The Happiest Place on Earth

 

So at the end of our family trip to Disneyland, we started out with 11 people in line to see Nemo's submarine ride. After 20 minutes and a chat with a security guard, we were down my uncle. After about an hour, one little one was passed out and so, we were down 2 more. Hit another line switch and we are down another. Then grandma is looking thoroughly bored and totally ready to go home, so then she's outta there and my brother goes with her. After almost 2 hours, we are in the submarine and one cousin apologizes and is outta there - claustrophobia. And then there were 4. Can't say it was fully worth the wait, but I do wonder how they projected images through water onto screens and it's probably worth a 30 min wait once the lines die down.

Familiarity

 

So when we went to California - we got to visit my old college roommate & her husband (who is also an old college friend). We met their new baby. And, I'm not really ga-ga over peoples babies, but I've come to realize that my comfort level is based on how close I feel to the parents. I see other people walk up to complete strangers and touch their baby. I guess I don't feel a real desire to do this, but I still think it's pretty weird. If I were the parents, I wouldn't want some stranger just intruding into my grocery shopping trip and invading my personal space (er, I guess the baby's personal space). But, I usually have a "I'm getting things done now" attitude when I'm out doing errands anyway - chatting with strangers is not my thing for the most part. Not being shy or unfriendly (but I am still the nerd who is fine sitting in my cube all day) - maybe just more private. But anyway, yeah, I guess I never really feel all that comfortable with a baby unless I am really comfortable with the parents. So Wei Yan and I had a fun time playing with the new 3 month old. And our friends even said it was nice to get a little break from entertaining her.

count down to Vegas begins

In just a little over 48 hours from now we'll be on a plane to Vegas. The whole crew + a few new additions will be joining us this year. Decided to go ahead and buy into the ladies event. so that's sunday at 11am. no partying on sat night for me. :-)

ACC Quarterfinals 2007

 
This video is one of my favorite memories of the tournament so far. In keeping with some of the terrible officiating that we've seen today, the officials give this one to BC, but it's worth a replay or two.

Roy's boys 

Supporting Hansborough in his return after the broken nose! 

Miami's fan section - yup that's it 
Congrats to State on their 2 upsets so far. Keep it going! 

ACC Tourney - Day 1

Day one, we take off from RDU at 6:30am. Southwest is oversold, but luckily a few folks take the deal & we get on after a few tense moments. Day 1 is eventful. Games 1-3 are all close, upset city and Game 3 (Duke - NC State) goes into overtime. NC State pulls away in overtime, but up until then it was a close game.
Georgia Tech & Wake kick it off a bit late because of the previous overtime. About 5 min from half time, the officials are calling fouls left and right and the ball is getting turned over - I think we're lucky if we get 20 seconds of action before the game is stopped for 1 reason or another. Half time hits, Wei Yan's contacts are feeling it and even though it's close, Georgia Teck is looking pretty good. We decide to head home, since the game looks to be heading past midnight and we've been up since 4:45am (and that is after heading to bed late after finishing packing). We get back to the hotel just to find out the game is not on TV. Mental lapse. We keep checking the scores and by the 2nd overtime, we just can't hang on & we're asleep before the the game is decided.
 
After realizing Wednesday night that maybe I should have opted out of the red highlights - in case we get in a game with Maryland or State, I realize that now my hair is Florida State colors! Some one remind me Carolina blue next time! 

Short week

We are heading off to Tampa, FL tomorrow morning to go to the ACC Tournament. We have yet to sell our 2nd set of tickets, guess we'll have to do that in Tampa. Guess we'll be taking a huge loss on them, but nothing we can really do about that. Darn supply & demand! Hurts to be on the wrong end of that one.

I'm pooped. Even though it was just a few days at work, there have been some changes at work with the charity committee - and that ended up taking a lot out of me emotionally. The money we had control over is now in someone else's hands and we'll just be making recommendations. Trying to figure out what our role is in our growing company and will all the powers that be pulling, pushing & not really considering us. No one will tell us what our role is, and so we'll just have to figure it out and I'm feeling the burden to care not just about what event will have our logo & name all over it, but in using our resources as a group of people to help others who are less fortunate than us. We may have the greatest morale - but I think it is always important to help others and be grateful for what we have no matter how little or how much.

And a big project is coming up, and seems that it will require a lot of leadership skills and responsibilities. So much for taking it easy. Ah, well, all is good - 3 hours in the salon tonight - I think I may end up just forgetting about the color - I'll wait til I'm gray to do that whole deal. Thanks, Car for reading my blog.

Feb 20 - Back in NC

After a long plane ride home, we made it back safely!

 
This is us at the airport with all of our luggage at RDU. We only used 1 of the extra bags we brought, so not too bad (especially since we had to lug our stuff through customs)

Day 9 - Last full day in Hong Kon

We head to meet a family friend at Sogo. The other cousins have decided to just do something quick, since everyone is running behind. We meet Joanne and search for a place to eat. A lot of stuff is closed, so we eat sandwhiches & coffee at a cofee place. It's a quick meet up, and then we are off to meet some of Wei Yan's family. After meeting another one of Wei Yan's cousins, we get Japanese red bean pastries (the ones they make in the hot molds) and I try one filled with creme, which I've never had before. We decide on heading to Tsim Sha Tsui to shop a little and then to Temple street for more deals.

After shopping, we hop in a taxi & run into a little traffic. We end up getting to Dave's uncle's place at about 7:40pm. Fireworks start at 8pm. The light rain today & cloudy weather is an issue. Some of the fireworks are basekd by the clouds and you can only see the bottoms of the bursts. Dave and Eunice think that it looks better on TV, which it does, but we just enjoy the live view & take pictures/video. Afterwards, we go to Central station, but the restaurant ("tastey" congee) is too full. We head over to Times Square by taxi - and get a good shot of the IFC - it's a bit spookey with clouds covering the top. We eat at a restaurant instead that has lots of Northern chinese food. We see the guys behind a glass hand stretching noodles or making dumplings & putting them directly into the steamers. The food is good here, and again, I'm stuffed. We then head back to start packing.

I don't think any of us is looking forward to the 16 hours of flying, but I think all of us are ready to head home.

HK3

Day 8 - Kung Hey Fat Choy

Happy Lunar New Year!
We get a slow start, but need to be out to visit Wei Yan's grandmother by 2pm. We grab a quick roast pork bun & then arrive 15 min late. She is up & awake today. We wish her a Happy New Year and visit for a while. It's a bit hard to understand her because of the stroke, but she is able to smile on both sides of her face, more on one than the other, but enough that you can tell the left side has regained some mobility. Her eyes light up & she smiles when she recognized Wei Yand or when she sees me smiling at her. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know who I am or can't remember, but it's ok. We find out she is 95.

After the visit, we head back to Causeway Bay. We eat a mini cheesecake (which is more like a cheesecake flavored sponge cake) and check out Lai Chi Kok Park at the Mei Foo MTR station. There are some funny signs of what you can't do at the park, but we do see some Filipina maids playing cards in the park.

We decide on Japanese curry for dinner. Service is the most terrible of the whole trip. The curry gives me a bit of tummy ache, but after Dave finds me some antacid at a store, we end up heading out to check out an arcade. It's in the building right next to the Excelsior. It's pretty cheap - maybe $5 HK dollars at the most for a game. After that, we stop at the same place we got take out dessert before & we get some watermelon & strawberry slushy stuff with mini tapioca balls in it. Sam & Wei Yan head back to the bar at Excelsior for a beer, and I head back to the Apt with Dave. Not a very eventful day, the streets are eearily quite today - most folks are visiting family.

Day 7 - Saturday Feb 17th

We wake up and Wei Yan heads out to eat & pick up our laundry, and I opt to stay in and blog a little. I make a little instant coffee that I brought with me and a granola bar that we also brought with us to eat on the plane. Wei Yan returns with Eunice, Sam and no laundry, but has some spicy lo bo gao and squid jook. Both are pretty good minus a few shrimp shells in the lo bo gao and some weird white gelatinous stuff in the jook. I try to ask Wei Yan to look at the white stuff & remember what it was, but not tell me til after I'm done, but he immediately declares that he has no idea what is is. Before I'm done eating, Dave gets back with 2 bags of laundry. Seems that the lady at the laundry was afraid she lost a bag and lied saying that it wasn't there yet, when she was just trying to figure out what she had lost. Finally, she figures out that it's all there, and gave him the laundry.

We head out to the Big Buddha. We have to take a few trains and make a few connections. A bunch of people get out on the Disney stop - it is definitely a far way out there and Dave tell us the ticket price is high. Doesn't take a genius to figure out why it's not that popular. We finally get out at the end of the line & hop on the tram. It's all enclosed except for these vents that create a huge breeze - although I can appreciate how it would help in the winter, it's just cold. I'm glad Wei Yan reminded me that I would need a jacket since it's 5F degrees colder up here. It's a big foggy, but after we get funnelled through a store at the top of the tram, we can see the Buddha. We walk through a small street with a bunch of stores & restaurants. Feels a little like Disneyland and very un-mimimalistic. Dave eats some healthy jelly made from tortise shell - which we get Sam to taste. He declares that it's not that bad, but the rest of us just watch Dave eat the black jelly that he is eating for health reasons instead of taste. We walk over to the bottom on the Buddha. We decide to head up the stairs first. Everyone is a little winded and definitely feels the stairmaster burn. Once at the top we take a bunch of pictures, enjoy the view of the monastary and look around. Wei Yan gets about 4 calls while we are up there so I take off to take some pictures and look around. The inside underneath the Buddha is a round room where there are what look like names written all over with a few peoples' pictures. A few pictures of Buddha and basic stories. I head outside & wait at the top of the stairs for the guys. A lady makes it to the top & her friend asked her in a Southern accent if she felt 70 yet! The lady takes the 70 year olds picture at the top - reward for all that work and then she asks the 2 other ladies if they want their picture taken and they reply something to the effect of them not taking pictures.

Anyway, find the guys and head back down the stairs. The guys then eat some jerky & other snacks that Eunice brought with her (she stayed at the bottom of the stairs). I take a picture of the guys eating their jerky, and then a picture near the entance to the monastary that says "vegetarian food only" - there was no sign in the common central area, but I still find it ironic. Seems more commercial than religious, although I see a few people bowing & praying to the Buddha. We check out the monastary - the temple here is definitely the most ornate. We find out that the monastary is trying to build a new temple about 4 times the size of the existing one - and you can donate for certain things - 1,000 for a brick, 500,000 for a dragon pilar. Then we opt not to eat & head back down.

We grab a bite to eat at the bottom - it's like a Moe's burrito place but with different types of rice instead of tortillas. Pretty good. We head on the MTR back to Causeway Bay for Won Ton Noodle soup. It's a chain that they have in Ontario too - and Dave says that the Ontario branch is better. I try the noodles with vinegar and chili sauce like Dave & Eunice and it's much better than I think it's going to be. Then we stop at a shop to buy dried sea cucumbers. They look like turds in a jar, but at least they have no heads or eyes. There are some dried scallops too - but again, no heads or eyes. Sam & I discuss this fact. It's taking some time, so I check out the back of the store despite the smell. There are some type of lizard dried up & some sea horses that Wei Yan points out, so I report to Sam that we were wrong - they do have stuff with eyes & heads, so it really is that bad. We purchase few more things and then head back.

Then it's off to see Wei Yan's grandmother & meet his uncle's family. It's a long commute. Wei Yan's grandma is sleeping so she ends up not making it to dinner. We go to see her afterwards and the place is really crappy as EVERYONE warns us. We're glad for the warning, but it still is bad. It takes his grandmother about 5 minutes to wake up. When she finally does she does smile quite big when recognizing Wei Yan, but she is pretty out of it still. We leave her after getting Wei Yan's mom on the phone to talk to her and make arrangements to come back tomorrow. After getting back, we head to the Excelsior & meet up with Sam. We opt for the bar downstairs since the streets are packed for the New Year's fair. After some beers (Irish coffee for me) and some appetizers (onion rings & wings) - Wei Yan & I head to check out the fair. It's now 2:30am - and Dave says that it usually dies down by 2am. We finally make it into the fair, and then we are stuck. It's one way down a row of vendors - and you can barely move in any direction. Wei Yan calls Dave & we head sideways and then back despite the one way. We finally meet him at a Coke-a-cola tent & decide to just leave.

We're tired and despite the smoke from the bar, we just sleep. It's probably 4AM now and the streets are still full.

Day 6 - Returing to Hong Kong

We wake up a bit late - miss our free breakfast. When we catch up with the others, they report that we haven't missed much. Although Wei Yan is disappointed to have missed bacon. We head out to some square. Here we have double steamed milk pudding - delicious, hot & a little sweet. We have a sandwich that is made of a crispy bread (like a french roll) and a grilled pork cutlet - pretty yummy. We split a coconut bun and then are off to find something else for Wei Yan to eat. There is a street market that leads up to what remains of a church - it's just the face of the church since Eunice says that the rest burned in a fire. Wei Yan finds fried dumplings and I have a tea boiled egg. Then we are accosted by street vendors wanting us to try their almond cookies & jerky. Wei Yan of course obliges them. We decide not to buy anything just yet, since we'll have to carry everything around & our boat is reserved for midnight.

By the end of the road, before we get to the church, we've broken down & buy a bunch of stuff at Pastelaria Koi Kei. After the 4th jerky purchase, Eunice tells Wei Yan that he can't bring unlabelled meat to the US. If it doesn't state that it doesn't have beef with an official "Ingredients" section, then he won't be able to bring it in. So he stops and makes his purchase. The jerky is in individual bags that get sealed up after you make your pick, so he can't really put it back. We get some cookies and then take some pictures in front of the church. We also see a guy making something that seems like a crepe, until I realize that he is putting a slip of nori (seaweed) on it & some powdery cream-colored stuff & wrapping it up. Wei Yan buys 3 - and before I get to the middle of it, he tells me the powder stuff is meat. Odd, but not bad. I think it's probably an acquired taste, but it's actually not too bad. I get some fresh squeezed orange juice which is good because it's not too sweet.

Then we head back to our hotel to drop of our purchases. Then we head to this fisherman's wharf thing that is across the street. There is a huge fake volcano that Wei Yan & I can see from our hotel room. There is also some shops. I buy a coffee and we look at some of the shops. We see some girls dressed in some ethnic clothing & showing folks how to spin some toy - Wei Yan tried to take a picture, and we head off to a shop selling fake hello kitty stuffed animals. Wei Yan joins us and reports that he almost got run over by a cart that was carrying a tour group - some guy started talking to him and that's when he realized that they were stopped right next to him, honking at him while he was trying to get his picture.

We pass by some food, and Wei Yan spots some crispy skin pork. Eunice, Catherine & I are totally stuffed, so we're not sure how he can eat any more. He gets a container of crispy skin pork & roast pork and eventually we all give in & eat a little. We hear a guy talking in English on a cell phone and I decides that he is probably the most stereotypical gay sounding guy I've ever heard in person - not on TV or in a movie - but almost that stereotypical. We've seen a lot of feminine women and masculine men in Hong Kong, but this one is definitely the most out there. No purse though (we've seen a lot of guys carrying their woman's purse, but then also some that have their own). We head over to the Sands. Wei Yan & I head down to the non-smoking section & check out the Caribbean poker. He hits a good streak - even with the dealer informing him that he can surrender/fold. In the end he is up after last night's blackjack. He give the dealer a $50 HK tip - and we conclude that it was probably a bit much considering how surprised the dealer was. Then we find Dave & try our hand at Baccarat. We end up just following him. I guess there is a lot of superstition involved, because we can't really tell why this is interesting or exciting. You bet on either the dealer or the players hand. No decisions after that. We're up a little and before we meet everyone at 6:30, we decide to try the Caribbean poker again. We end up about even, up a few hundred and when I'm cashing out, I think I have $1,150 HK (about $125 US) - and the cashier gives me $1,050 - when I ask her, then end up counting everything in the drawer. After about 10 min, they conclude that no, they were right. Next time I won't ask. Finally we meet up with everyone else.

We hop in a taxi and head over to find some dinner. We end up walking down another alley of shops to a Portuguese/Macanese restaurant. We order some food - ribs, clams, curry chicken, fried chicken (like a fried, breadless rotisserie chicken), and garlic toast. I'm not really impressed with much - I think I only liked the African chicken - the rest of the food I can just not bother with next time. We head back to the hotel & grab out stuff. Now we have so many packages, we head to the docks and we're off on the 1st boat - we get on standby & forget about waiting until midnight.

Once back in the Apt, we put down all of our stuff & head out to find dessert, since I didn't eat much. It's super crowded since a lot of folks are at a fair at the park next to the Apt. Streets are already closed down, which makes it easier to navigate with all the people. We finally find the dessert place - and can't understand anything one the menu. We do see one has an English translation for Bird's nest (which is actually swallow spit) - so we look for something safe & after a bit are able to order. Wei Yan gets some curry fish balls & shu mai & we head back. It's pretty late now, since all of people made it difficult to navigate. When we return to the Apt, Dave is beat and head off to bed. Eunice stays & talks a while. The dessert is some mango & watermelon puree with slices of fruit & tiny mochis. Pretty good & a nice light way to end the evening. When Wei Yan gets to his shu mai, he's mystified - then Eunice tells him that the street vendors put a lot of flour in them dumplings. Wei Yan can't even tell there is any shrimp - it looks like a white dough with a slightly pink coloring! He finishes a few & then dumps the rest.

I spend a while blogging & trying to write down some of the stuff we've done in the last 2 days. Wei Yan is snoring within 5 minutes. He is so knocked out that me squeezing his cheeks does nothing but variate his snoring sounds. I'm done at around 2:30am and we sleep. The bed at the hotel in Macau was like sleeping on a board, so our bed at the Apt, though small is feeling like a cloud.

Day 5 - Heading to Macau

We meet up at the MTR station and head off to take a Turbo Jet boat to Macau. Once we get there, Sam is ready for coffee at the Starbucks, but it looks like there is some immigration form we have to fill out and we have to go through a line. We head off and the line it actually not bad - it's worse for Wei Yan's cousins, since there are way more HK residents trying to get through. We end up getting on Standby for an earlier boat, so we are off a little early. I'm definitely a little weary of eating or drinking anything - even coffee, when I see our boat rocking like crazy, and we almost fall over when we are getting into our seats, so I'm bracing myself for some seasickness.

Once we get out of the harbor, we start booking, and it's surprisingly smooth. Sam gets his coffee and after about half an hour, I dig into my coconut cream bun from the night before. I think we're still adjusting to HK, since we keep buying way too much - thinking we're in the US and stocking up. Anyway, on the ride, I'm glad that I was so greedy the night before, but then I get even more greedy & wish my coconut cream bun was fresh. The ride takes little less than an hour.

We take a taxi to a restaurant. I know we crossed a bridge, so we're not in Macau - but on another nearby island. The resturant is pretty fancy by our recent standards - table cloths, full set of utensils, etc. Wei Yan's cousin's order - I mention the African chicken that our tour book suggested, but they already saw it in their Chinese guide book & had already decided on it. We get some deep fried appetizers - way fishy for me. Sam says he likes them, and no one else really does, so Dave quickly gives him the last one. Next is fried rice (too bland), bloody duck (I will pass next time, even though it's about the 2nd best dish of the lunch), african chicken (with fried potato slices) & ribs. The african chicken is super super yummy. The bill was kind of expensive, but not compared to US prices.

We walk up the street to another Tim Hau temple. This one is really big - more spread out, but there are large chinese characters painted in red on rocks. One lady is shaking her fortune sticks and I start to get nervous for her when she's been shaking for quite some time & nothing seems to be ready to fall out. We take some pictures, look around, and come back & she is still shaking. Finally something falls out & the guy give her the slip of paper from the stacks of papers behind him that match the stick. They are all in Chinese. There are these large, yellow insence spirals that are hanging everywhere. It takes me a while to figure out that these aren't just decorations, they are actually burning & spewing ash everywhere. We head back down. There is another small temple at the bottom & the opposite side of where we came in. We step in to check it out, but it is very smokey in there. Before we turn around, Wei Yan points out a guy trying to light 3 insence sticks that are as big as baseball bats. But the smoke is too much & we head out. While we are waiting for Sam to finish his photos, we take some more pictures & decide what to do next.

Next it is go carts and then dan tat at Lord Stow's. The dan tat are piping hot & much better than the ones from Excelsior claiming to be from Lord Stows. We then take a bus over to Grand Lisboa. The casino is pretty big - we have to go through a metal detector before entering the casino. No smoking in the casino here. We look around, even ask if they have poker, but all they have is 1-2 carribean stud tables, and tons of baccarat. We look around for 30 min, and Wei Yan gets to play a little blackjack, before we meet up again. We head over to the Wynn. They also have few games that Wei Yan, Sam & I are familar with, so we leave. We take a taxi to dinner. The first taxi driver doesn't speak cantonese very well, and claims that the place doesn't exist. After Catherine figures this out, we all get out & head back to the taxi stand. Finally, the next taxi driver is cool. He even sees a traffic jam, and navigates us around it - through some back streets. On a left turn, he turns so fast, that Wei Yan and I thought he was going to side swipe a car parked on the side of the street. But he narrowly misses it (Wei Yan swears it was by less than an inch). We pull over in what seems like a back alley. It's not a great neighborhood. We walk up some stairs and we are in what looks like a parking lot. There are a bunch of round tables set up outside, with platic bags over them & plastic stools for chairs. We sit down & Dave cleans our utensils, bowls & spoons with the tea. They order and the food comes shortly. First a noodle dish - yummy, the noodles are definitely fresh. Some chinese veggie (looks like green onion but thicker) & seafood dish - very good. Some fish with lemon sauce, also good. We order some white rice (yay! finally chinese food with rice). We get some type of chinese broccoli with chinese sausage. Eggplant & pork in a stone dish for me since eggplant is my favorite. Then soup - with a whole crab in it & some white cubed vegetable. Once we ate, we took a taxi back to Sands. We try to find something to play. We sit down at a black jack table - none of the players around us seem to know how to play. Hitting on 16 with the dealer showing 6 and stuff like that. The smoke starts getting to me, so I have to head downstairs to the smokeless lobby & wait for Wei Yan and Sam to finish up. We head back to our hotel (acoss the street) called Hotel Golden Dragon, and Sam gets his bag & heads of to try to make it back to HK on his own. It's maybe 10:30pm now.

After a long day with crowded busses (and I mean 2x as crowded as the HK buses) and the pollution, I'm done. Macau is pretty much a ghetto of Hong Kong as far as I can tell. With no gambling that I can figure out, so I'm not too impressed.

Day 4 - Valentine's Day in Hong Kong

We checked the rate to stay another day at the hotel, but $200 US is no deal - hotels.com even has a better rate. Plus we realize that if we check out on the same day as our Macau trip, it might be more hectic on Thursday. So we wake up and check out around 11am. We decide to pay in cash, since the Excelsior is offering 7.4 and we weren't able to exchange our $20s (all that I got from my ATM before we left) at the bank that was offering a better rate. We're not sure what the credit card is offering, and don't need to carry cash all the way to HK & back again.

We meet up with Sam & Dave and head over to Dave's mother-in-law's apartment (The Apt from now on) with our luggage. Sam tries to get internet access to upload some pictures and that takes a while. Once that's kicked off we head out for noodles. Eunice (Dave's wife) says that there aren't any good Chinese noodle places around, so we head off to a Ramen place. I opt for the curry since I've been craving it since seeing so many pictures in windows. Guess Causeway Bay is where a lot of Japanese tourists come. No pickled ginger or other vegetables though :-( Everyone else likes their noodles, but after tasting Wei Yan's broth I decide I probably won't like it more than Hakata Ramen in SoCal, since I like my broth light.

After lunch ($130 HK for 5 people, including appetizer - yummy garlic beef), we head over to buy tickets for the tram to go see the big Buddha from Eunice's travel agent, but before we finish, they tell us we have to be back by 5pm when the trams stop running. We get a refund and head back to The Apt. There we decide to go to Stanley market. Once at Stanley market, Sam breaks down for some Starbucks, and seeing his weakness only makes me finish going down the escalator and then head right back up to get in line behind him. Coffee costs about the same as it does in the US, at least at Starbucks, but what can we say

At Stanely market, we visit a Tim Hau temple (goddess of the sea). It's really small, but there is a feng shui way - where there is an unobstructed view of the ocean from the temple. We also see a building that was moved from Central - and placed as to not disrupt the view of the ocean from the temple. After all the sightseeing, we head to the markets. Prices here are better, not as good as Temple street, but good.

After a few purchases (some paintings, a hand warmer), we take a taxi to Victoria Peak. We were expecting it to be a little less crowded, but a lot of couples have made their way for Valentine's day. We took some pictures of the view from Victoria Peak - but I don't think any of them do it justice. It kind of reminded me of the view we had from the top of the bald hill in PV, but lacking the distance it wasn't as peaceful. Dave & Eunice head back, and Sam heads to the top of the mall type building to take some more pictures. Wei Yan & I decide to check out what's in the view, since we're already a little bored of the view & the tons of people trying to look at the view. We spent about 30 min at EA experience! The games are cool, but it's a bit embarrassing to have the workers come to help us since we look so lost. The superman game looks cool, but there are always some kids playing it. We see Jackie Chan & Bruce Lee's wax figures, and when we finally head up to the top of the mall, it's so packed! More than a ton of people up there, so we don't spend too much time before we head back down. We find Sam at another Starbucks, and head back to Causeway bay.

Wei Yan and I head out to get a bite to eat, and spend a little time "alone" - which in the middle of Hong Kong amounts to being in a sea of people, but not knowing any of them. We head to try some Japanese octopus balls that Eunice says are yummy. Wei Yan gets some fish ball as well, and we try to find a place to eat them - we end up at Times Square, sitting on the little wall for the decorated pigs display. We sit down in front of "Eight Ball" and get to eating. The octopus balls are really really hot. I decide to try them with the mayonnaise, and like them a little better, but I conclude that they are more fun to watch being made than eating them. We also get an "Egg Ball" which looks like a bunch of ping pong ball of dough put together & curled to make a roll. Surprisingly this is crunchy, but I think it has a bit of a weird aftertaste, so I'm done after eating maybe a third. My back is now killing me, so we head back. After hearing that restaurants are charging a 50% mark up for Valentine's day & that most of them will be booked up well in advance, we had decided to try to spend a little time together, but do valentines when we get back in the states.

Day 3 in Hong Kong

We get a late start on the day, but thankfully we can all report a full night's rest! We meet up with Dave at an Admirality stop (I think) - where the Lippo building is. It takes a while to find our way, but finally we find Dave. Then it takes us another few minutes to find Cafe de Corral and grab a bite to eat. Not too bad - less than $10 US for lunch! Pretty good too.

Then we use our metro pass to head to Ocean Park. It takes a while to get there - but we pass a bunch of indoor car dealerships and St. Michaels Catholic Cemetary (Happy Valley). Cemetaries in Hong Kong are really striking - the graves are all deliniated with above ground markers - not just a headstone. And they are so close together.

Once at Ocean Park, it takes us a few to get situated with the map. It's not too busy, so I can tell it's going to be decent even if the place is lame. But it is definitely not. There is about 6-7 huge escalators that we take up a huge moutain. We watch the bird show, then the sea lion show. Both shows have limited English, but the animals are cute & entertaining, without the need for a script. Then we take these cable cars over to the other side of the park. There, we check out the new jelly fish exhibit! By far the coolest zoo-type exhibit I've ever been to! The jelly fish were really beautiful and facinating. At the end they had these jelly fish projected on the wall, and when they bumped into your shadow they made a noise & moved away! Very fun! The shark exhibit & the coral reef exhibit were also very cool except for all the Chinese people with no sense of space. But it was still very cool. I was busy trying to read a sign for a restaurant and slipped on the last stair of a stairwell we were going down. A small twist & a small scrape, but after waling if off a bit, it's feeling fine. We check out a few more things - the last being the ride at the peak of the park that takes you up - incredible view if you can get over the height.

We head back on the 2nd bus - there is quite a line. We head back to the hotel quickly and then it's off to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet Wei Yan's uncle. He picks us up in his car and takes us to a restaurant. Wei Yan and his uncle take a while to order and after the food arrives he tells me that it's Chiu Chow cuisine, which I've been wanting to try. We finally figure out that Wei Yan's dad and mom both are Chiu Chownese - which is the language that his grandmother in Greenville keeps reverting back to every now & then. The food is definitely different than anything we've had before, but it's all pretty good. After this, Wei Yan's uncle takes us to Temple St. We have to be careful of pick pocketers, but these are more of the Hong Kong prices we were thinking of. We buy a few things, and by now I can tell that my little fall earlier didn't hurt my ankle, but my lower back & neck are aching. When Wei Yan asks if we should head back or keep shopping, I think I answered before he could finish. We part ways with Wei Yan's uncle & take the MTR back to Causeway Bay. After a quick stop at 7-11 to pick up some water, we head back. I'm definitely glad to be off of my feet now! The last 2 days we've been really tired and our feet & legs have been super tired, but tonight I'm definitely hurting in a different way. Now that we've gotten a few of the must-do's out of the way, I think I'll be taking it easy tomorrow.

Sam's pictures:

Day 2 in Hong Kong

I'm well rested after my drug assisted full night's sleep. Wei Yan wakes up several times during the night, and Sam only sleeps for a few hours before waking up at 4am. We decide to get some coffee at the hotel coffee shop - and I order the combo with 2 dan tat - they have a little of carmelization on top, sort of like a creme bruleee, and they are very yummy. We eat dim sum again for lunch (well, at 10:30am, we are eating lunch, and we're not sure what the senior citizens are eating) - no carts again, so we have to order. Bummer since we're hoping we can try some new stuff one of these days by checking out stuff on carts. We get our money changed with Dave's help. We check out some of Dave's favorite food at Sham Shui Po and then head to Mong Kok to look for a watch for Sam & look for some bargains. Yesterdays shopping seemed to yield only sales as name brand stores that are all about the same as US prices.

1st for today:
1. I see a man sitting at tables in an alley for a won ton soup stand (in Sham Shui Po) kick a mouse. The mouse at first seems unfazed, then after being kicked for a second time is gone in a blink of an eye. I tried to show the others, but it is gone before they can look.
2. See a man dressed as a steak. Some promotion is all I can guess, but since his sign is in Chinese, we just take some pictures and leave.

1st full day in Hong Kong

Wei Yan's cousin Dave shows us around, gets us a Metro pass and allows us to check email at his in-law's place. We aren't able to get in touch with Wei Yan's uncle, but do talk to Wei Yan's mom. We checked out Times Square, which is close to our hotel - there are decorated pigs in the front of the Times Square building. Our favorites are the panda pig & the eight ball pig. Wei Yan's other cousin Catherine takes over as tour guide. We try fried, curried fish balls. We also find the local Crispy Creme - and Wei Yan can't resist. The doughnuts end up costing 2x the cost in the US. The fish balls were $0.25 US.

We take the boat to Tsim Sha Tsui. There we eat a Cantonese style dinner - we even eat sweet & sour pork, which ends up being the best dish of the night. We are yawning by 8:00pm and head back on the MTA. I decide to take a sleeping pill since I didn't sleep that well. Sam & Wei Yan definitely had a harder time sleeping last night, but decide that they are tired enough to sleep fine. All in all, I think we walked for 6 hours today, so we figure sleep is in order.

Arriving in Hong Kong

Before our 16 hour flight from New Jersey to Hong Kong (how happy & rested we look!):

So we arrived safely! It was a long trip, but we've arrived and still jet lagged! Here are some picture so far:

Hong Kong Trip

Friday 10:30am (EST): We leave RDU
Saturday 9pm (HK time): We arrive in Hong Kong - a little late because of a delay in Newark. Then we take a taxi out to Causeway Bay & check into the Excelsior Hotel. We go out to eat something with Wei Yan's cousin Dave, Dave's wife, Dave's sister Catherine, her boy friend, Sam, Wei Yan & I. The place is know for desserts, but we are hungry & order food. The rice is cooked in a hollowed out bamboo and tastes yummy. We are too full & tired to try the desserts, so we head back to the hotel. Despite the fact that we are all tired, we can't sleep very well.

Passport Renewed & Getting Ready for HK!

Wei Yan went yesterday to the FedEx office to pick up his passport! All done! My boss did know someone at a senator's office, but she actually recommended that we use an private service to guarantee a faster turn around given our departure time.

We have the Duke game on Wednesday, but over the next few days, we'll need to start packing. Here are a list of things I've been told we need to bring:

1. Toilet paper (Wei Yan's mom just came back from HK and says that many public bathrooms will not provide it. I may have to buy a bigger purse to lug a roll around with us - oh darn!)
2. Hand Sanitizer Gel or maybe some travel baby wipes packs
   
3. Pepto & Immodium
4. ATM/Debit card to withdrawal more cash if necessary. They say the exchange rate would be determined by Visa (my debit card type). Went to the bank and had them approve my debit card for use in HK already.
5. Snacks for the plane. No one is entirely sure how much or often they will feed us on the almost 16 hour flight from New Jersey to HK

Any other suggestions? This is the first time I'll be heading to this part of the world. I've been to Mexico (when I was really young) and France - and that's it! The toilet paper thing was a bit of a shock.

Our friend Sam will be joining us on our trip. He's getting ready to go back to work after a short leave of absence, so he decided to take a trip before heading back. We haven't decided much about what we'll be doing while we're there - I haven't cracked open the 2 HK books yet! Guess Wei Yan and I will have a decent amount of family stuff to do, so maybe Sam will end up using the books more than we will.

New Year's resolutions!

didn't think much about new year's resolutions this year. I think it might just end up being to work on all the stuff I started before the end of last year, or didn't, but wanted to. mainly exercising and organizing/decorating the house. today after work, finally went to pilates for the first time this year. it was a good session, but I think I can now admit to hurting my left shoulder somehow. guess my body figured it was at least the same year as my 30th birthday, and me falling apart can't wait until the actual day.

so come home & wei yan has cooked me orange chicken from Trader Joe's. I surfed for shoulder injury prevention/treatment info on the web after dinner while we watch the class & how I met your mother. I try out some stretches and exercises and things feel better. after the end of 24 & heroes, I'm off to do some cardio on the elliptical. 25min later I'm feeling quite accomplished.

and I even vacuumed the floor of my bathroom & closet!

Wei Yan actually booked our trip to Hong Kong while I was vacuuming upstairs. So we are off to Hong Kong from Feb 9-20th! Now, he just has to get his passport renewed.

Madison and the Fern

My parents have a basset hound named Madison. Her previous owners kept her in a crate all day and she would howel all day, so they were planning on sending her to the pound rather than get evicted. My parents gave her a home and she is obsessed with their fern. She likes walking under it and letting the leaves "pet" her. Growing up, I saw my dogs do really stupid things, like chase their tail, bark at the wind, etc. But, I never saw anything like this:

Dec 2006 Cali Trip