Wednesday, Sept 1, 2010: Berlin Day 2

Today was a walking day – we probably walked 12-15 miles by the time everything was said and done. At the end of the day, we were exhausted! The day started in the Tiergarten, which is like Berlin’s Central Park. As we walked along the weather changed from cool and overcast (jackets required), to clear and sunny (t-shirts), to cloudy and rainy (jackets and umbrellas required) all within a matter of 2 hours. Our little tour took us past the Siegessaeule statue (under renovations), Schloss Bellvue where the Chancellor Merkel lives, the main train station (Hauptbahnhof), the Reichstag Parliament building, and the Brandenburg Gate. The Gate is such an impressive monument, and it is crazy to think that just over 20 years ago, the Berlin wall ran only a few feet from where it stands.

Tiergarten


Schloss Bellvue


After that trek, we took a break for lunch at Café Einstein, which is near Humboldt University where Einstein taught before the war. Lunch was delicious, and the homemade apfelstrudel we had for dessert was even more delicious. From there, we set off east and passed the Bebelplatz, which was the site of the first major Nazi book burning. The square is a very nice looking plaza directly across from Humbolt University, and it is difficult to imagine a big crowd of people standing around burning ~20,000 books. After crossing the Spree river, we reached the Berliner Dom - a nice church on Berlin’s central Museum Island. It also had a stairwell that you could take up to the dome to get a nice 360 degree view of central Berlin.

Bebelplatz


Berliner Dom


And again... this time with a rainbow


The sun was starting to fall in the sky when we left the Berliner Dom, and I really wanted to make it to the Holocaust memorial before sunset. After a quick stop at a chocolate shop near Friedrichstrasse that has some amazing chocolate sculptures, we hustled our way over to the memorial. As anticipated, the memorial was very striking at sunset. Although much of the city has moved on from the war, these monuments make it impossible to forget the darkest elements of that time period.

That's a lot of chocolate!


Melinda in the Holocaust Memorial


At sunset


We finished the day with another trip to the Brandenburg Gate right as the sun set. For dinner, we went to another German restaurant across the street from our hotel. I can’t get enough of the German food!

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010: From London’s Stansted Train Station to Berlin

Unfortunately, Kenneth came down with a case of the sniffles (this is one of our new favorite British words that we think is very funny) the day before we were to leave on our big Eastern European tour. Although he was feverish and sluggish on Monday, he has been quite the trooper and has not let his cold slow him down on our trip. When we arrived in Berlin in the afternoon we made our way to Mark Hotel, where we would be staying for three nights. The area around our hotel was a really nice, quiet residential neighborhood adjacent to more bustling wide, clean streets with multiple shops selling clothes and shoes.

After checking in and leaving our back packs in our room, we headed out to explore some of the city before the sun went down. We headed west for Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, which was the site of the 1936 Olympic Games. That competition was interesting because it was supposed to validate Hitler’s thoughts on the supremacy of his Aryan athletes. America’s Jesse Owens had other ideas and won several gold medals. The stadium is still a very impressive building and was a beautiful sight as the sun set.







For dinner, we were anxious to try German food so we decided on a huge, old-fashioned beer house that was recommended by our hotel just down the street. For what looked to be a tourist trap, the food was definitely better than expected. I greatly enjoyed my sliced pork with sauerkraut and dumplings, while Kenneth had a German sausage with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. He was excited to get his sparkling apple juice, apfelschorle. The meal was great and we went back to the hotel to get ready for a big day of touristing.

Eurotrip!!!

Right now we are in the middle of a 3+ week boondoggle through Central Europe. Our itinerary is as follows: Berlin (Germany) - Prague (Czech Republic) - Budapest (Hungary) - Zagreb (Croatia) - Split (Croatia) - Dubrovnik (Croatia) - Rijeka (Croatia) - Ljubljana (Slovenia) - Vienna (Austria) - Munich (Germany) - Salzburg (Austria). We're trying to keep up with writing blog posts on the trains and will try to get some of those posts up soon.

God Save the Queen

A nice flight on Virgin Atlantic took us from our beloved LAX airport to London Heathrow. A two hour delay put us into Heathrow at 5pm. This arrival time was perfect timing to meet up with my friend Landon Larson, who we are staying with for the fall. Landon was working in Norway, and we shared a cab back to his place. That simple rendezvous saved us around 60 pounds (thank you Big Oil!). It didn’t take us long to realize that living in London would be a much more expensive endeavor than living in HK (or even LA for that matter). A simple dinner at Thai Garden that night for the three of us was over 45 pounds.

After so much traveling around for the past month, we had some trouble adjusting to the time zone. I was consistently waking up around 10, whereas Melinda would wake up around 5am, eat breakfast, then come back to bed for another 6 hours or so. One day she didn’t get up for good until 2pm.

For the most part, we took it pretty slow in our first days in London. We have all fall to see the place so we didn’t blaze any trails on the first weekend. On Sunday (Aug 29), we did make it out to see some of the sights and take some snaps. Mostly though, we just relaxed and rested up for our 3+ week Eurotrip starting on Aug 31.

August 20 - Back in the States

My trip back to the US was great – I had been upgraded to Business/First, and despite the fact that the trip was 15 hours long, I was sad to see it end. Flying first class internationally is an unbelievable experience. I slept great, and could even sleep on my side in the 180 degree recline seats. We even flew over the North Pole, and I was able to take some video of the Arctic, which was pretty cool. When I landed in Atlanta, I met up with Jonathan and Amit from India, and caught up on stories from their time since CO. After a presentation on Friday, I caught an earlier flight back to Wichita and landed in time for dinner.

On Saturday, my mom threw a surprise party for my sister, who was leaving the next week for a year abroad in Spain for her masters program through NYU. Little did I know that the surprise was also for Melinda and me. That morning, Victoria, Jon, Erica, and Dereck stopped by for breakfast because they were supposedly in town for a party on Friday. They left our house after breakfast, but then when we got to Di’s party, there they were again, along with several of our other friends and family. It was great to see so many people in such a short time before leaving again for London. My mother is quite the trickster, and she did a great job planning the perfect event.

After a short 1.5 days in Wichita, it was time to leave for LA on Sunday. In case you haven’t been keeping track, that’s HKG on Thurs, ATL on Fri, ICT on Sat, and LAX on Sun. Followed up by LON on Thurs. Understandably, my body was a little confused. In LA, we met up with our friends Priya and Vinny for a fun dinner on Sunday, and our neighbors Tom and Catherine hosted us for dinner on Monday. On Tuesday, we saw several friends from school at a going away party for another friend who was heading to HK for the semester. Just like in Wichita, it was great to see so many people in such a short time. It was also great to be back in LA and in our apartment. We love our place and the Brentwood/Santa Monica neighborhood so much. Sadly, after only a few short days, it was time to pack up and leave again.

The Farewell Tour

My last week and a half in Hong Kong was a blur. I actually had quite a bit of work that came up, and at the same time, I was trying to enjoy my last days with my new friends in Hong Kong. I won’t bore you with any of the work details, but will instead share some of the fun things.

On my last Saturday, Mandy took my to the island of Cheung Chau. It’s a small fishing community on an island just west of Hong Kong island. Melinda visited in one of her last weeks, but I was at work and unable to visit. We walked around the island looking at various temples and shops, and stumbled across a funeral being held in one of the public courtyards. It lasted for several hours and we walked past it several times. One of the traditions that we read about is for the surviving family members to burn fake money and paper replicas of cars, buildings, food, riches, and other nice things. Burning these things makes them available for their dead relatives to enjoy in the afterlife. Sure enough, at this funeral they had a paper Mercedes, a nice house, and several other things waiting to be burnt. The ceremony was fascinating to watch, and I really wish that I had been able to get a picture.





For the last several nights in town, I went out to eat with friends from work and tried an assortment of authentic, local experiences. The first night we went to a hole in the wall restaurant near the Temple Street night market for a rice dish baked in a clay pot. I had the curry beef and it was delicious. The next night was a little more adventurous with Cantonese style hot pot. Hot pot is pretty much like eating the main course at a Melting Pot fondue restaurant. You have a really hot pot in the center of the table with a broth and different spices to cook your meat in. In this case, we also had pork blood, tofu, and liver to add some flavor to the stew. Some of the meat I had was really good – the beef, for example. The cow stomach, on the other hand, was less awesome. My friend Jonathan Lau insisted that it was amazing, and that I would just love the texture – he misread the situation. Oh well, I still had a great time with my friends from the office.

I was really sad to leave my friends in HK, knowing full well that I may never make it back to see them again. The summer was a great experience that was made even better by the people I worked with. Hopefully our paths will cross again at some point, either in Asia or elsewhere.

Rocky Mountain High

Every year, Deloitte holds an event for its former consultants who are away at business school to reconnect them to the firm. The event is also an opportunity to network with peers at different schools around the country, as well as firm leadership. Obviously the six of us doing this global internship program provided a logistical challenge for the retreat organizers, but we received approval to attend. Fortunately, spouses were also invited, and the company paid for Melinda’s trip as well. Although unexcited about traveling 40 hours roundtrip for a weekend in the States, we weren’t about to miss out on the weekend - Especially since it was being held at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.





Flights from Hong Kong to Colorado Springs don’t happen every hour, so in order to get to COS in time for Friday’s dinner, we actually had to book flights that arrived the day before. This extra time in the Springs allowed us to (1) adjust to the time change and (2) go to the Colorado College campus. Melinda had not been back to campus since her graduation, and it was fun to see what had changed. Aside from Pepperdine’s perch over the Pacific in Malibu, I don’t know if you can find a prettier location for a college. Melinda’s freshman year dorm room looked right out on Pikes Peak and the foothills of the Rockies.



The rest of the weekend was great, and I had a blast seeing friends from UCLA and my time at Deloitte before school. 4 of the 5 members of my team from Week 2 BA training in 2005 were in attendance, and we had fun reminiscing about our group. We also enjoyed talking with the other global interns about their experiences in Brazil and India. Team India in particular had some crazy stories – they were even battling GI issues at the retreat. As Jonathan Felix said, his body was rejecting all of the clean water he was drinking. On Saturday, we went white water rafting, which was an absolute blast.



After the fun weekend and amazing stay at the fantastic Broadmoor, it was time to leave. Melinda actually flew to Wichita to spend a few weeks at home before going to London. I boarded the flight to Chicago and on to Hong Kong with Eric, and we were off to the other side of the world.

Catching Up

It's been a busy month and we're way behind on our blog. This is becoming somewhat of a habit. Whoops. Here are some posts covering our busy August.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

It is amazing how well humans (or at least Kenneth and I) seem to adapt to new environments and cultures that are quite different from our own. Although I was somewhat scared to venture out without my number one navigator and sightseeing partner the first several days we were in Hong Kong, I have grown quite accustomed to getting about town on the MTR and am starting to figure out my way around town. Unfortunately, I still continue to get myself turned around and a bit lost!

Kenneth discovered an article in the Continental Airlines magazine on the flight over about the Hong Kong Tourism Board, a great resource for everything that is going on in Hong Kong. While perusing the HKTB website, I came upon a group of culturally related classes offered every day of the week. Today, I attended the Jewelry Appreciation Class. After Mr. Alex Chan gave a PowerPoint presentation on pearls and diamonds, we looked at several examples of different qualities and varieties of each.

I was having a hankering for something not Asian or Indian for lunch, so I checked out the highly recommended Pizza Express. The restaurant sits on a street corner in Central, and has a very upscale café feel to it. I ordered the pumpkin soup and Torino pizza with fontina and grana padano cheeses, mushrooms, béchamel sauce, chili, and garlic. The pizza was very good and satisfied my appetite for cheese, which is something people do not eat a lot of here!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

It has rained all weekend! The rain definitely complicated things as we were out and about trying to see the city. We went to Tsim Sha Tsui (or as we refer to it, TST) area of town on the Kowloon side to schedule for a few cultural classes for next week. From there, we walked around for awhile and ducked into the Pennisula Hotel to escape the rain. What a lavish hotel! From the live orchestra playing on the balcony over-looking the entrance to the upscale shops and restaurants inside the building, I was very impressed! When we walked in, the band was playing “You Only Live Twice,” the theme song from a James Bond movie of the same name. Kenneth thought that was pretty awesome because the Peninsula is clearly the place that James Bond stays when he is in Hong Kong.





For lunch, we made our way to one of our favorite areas of town to eat, Central. We came across yet another stylish restaurant, called Tivo. It was an Italian inspired cuisine with wonderful fresh squeezed, mixed juices. I had a veggie omelet and Kenneth had eggs benedict.



After lunch, Kenneth wanted me to show him the Travelator. As Kenneth was busy getting multiple pictures of the largest, traveling elevator in the world, a young Taiwanese lady came up to him and asked if she could have her picture with him. I happened to be several feet out of the way of the entrance of the Travelator, so the group from Taiwan had no idea I was giggling to myself about the situation. I get such a kick out of Asian people and pictures with the peace sign!



We took the elevator quite a ways up the steep incline and then explored all of the side streets on the way down. We found a greenish colored Mosque, which looked so picturesque with the steps leading up to it and surrounding trees. We also checked out multiple restaurants that had potential before going home to dry out.





Later on in the evening we came back to Central with Eric to eat at Nha Trang, a very popular Vietnamese restaurant in town. The restaurant was packed so full; we ate at a long table with three girls on one side of us and a couple on the other side!

Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26, 2010

Kenneth went to Macau for two days with his co-workers for a company retreat. I really wanted to go, but did not want to impose! Guess we will just have to go again another time!

For dinner on Saturday night, we ventured to the hip, Lang Kwai Fong area in Central. We decided on a Creperie, called Simplicity. The crepes were pretty good for the price, but Kenneth’s wine was spectacular as far as cheap wines are concerned. It is called Casella Mallee 2008 from Australia (cabernet/merlot blend), and it is one of our new favorites! It is very smooth and fruity with a subtle hint of brown sugar. Can you tell I am trying to use some of the descriptive words I learned in Wine Club this year? We have searched high and low for this wine, and sadly, we have been unable to find it! So, what is one to do when you can’t find something…you Google it! Come to find out, this wine is produced by the same company that makes Yellow Tail and the website states it is only available in Australia. I also found the professional description of the taste of this wine… “The palate shows hints of strawberry and raspberry flavours with a touch of spice. Oak tannins lengthen and soften the palate, making this a balanced and food-friendly wine.”


Not quite like eating crepes at the Hilton Moorea, but we'll take it.

Monday, June 21st: My first day out on the town (by myself)

After giving our apartment the “full-treatment” and figuring out what I am planning on doing with all of my time in Hong Kong this summer, I ventured out tonight for some dinner at the same food court-like area at a nearby mall. Usually, I stay at least 10 feet away from any “fast food” in America, but the “fast food” in Hong Kong is actually more high quality. Tonight I decided to go with the pad thai since Eric gave it the approval last night. I was so hungry that I didn’t notice until I was about halfway done with my meal that within my pad thai were multiple (20-30) bright red, ~1-2cm long crustaceans mixed in with my noodles- exoskeleton, legs, big black bulging eyes and all. Wow, did I feel less than observant at this point! When I was eating my meal I assumed they were red chilies because I was not familiar with this new sea creature. Not only were there full bodied critters in my pad thai, but there were scattered mangled fellas too! After finishing, I realized it was probably a good thing I didn’t know what I was eating. I think this is something that I will probably be experiencing quite a bit here!


Creepy crawlers in the Pad Thai!!!

As I sat there chowing down on my pad thai, I watched the ~4 elderly, food court attendants walking around with their surgical masks covering their noses and mouths waiting to jump on the next table that opened up. As soon as people were finished eating, I bet someone was their within 30 seconds to pick up their tray and dispose of the mess at the proper receptacles. I was able to test this observation when I realized I needed to take the rest of my pad thai to go but needed a to-go box. I waited for the line to go down at Yummy before I jumped up and walked quickly to the counter nervously looking back at my table to make sure no one was taking my precious leftovers. Of course the 3 employees at the counter were not just standing around even though they had no customers, so it took a few seconds for me to get their attention. The language barrier took a few more seconds, and just as the worker at Yummy was reaching down to get the container on the bottom shelf I see a food court attendant walking up to my food and going in for the kill probably not more than 15 seconds after leaving my seat! I got my to-go container and fled back to my seat, just as the Cantonese family next to me was explaining to the attendant that they didn’t think I was done. As I walked up to my seat I made eye contact with the mom and I gave her a big smile in thanks that she had saved Kenneth’s dinner for the night.

Live Info-Mercials

At various street corners throughout town, you might here a loud voice above the hum of the people, taxis, and buses whizzing by you. As you come closer you witness a group captivated citizens listening to an animated sales person wearing a microphone headset and rattling off why their product is the best thing since the rice cooker. As our friend Vinny described one of his colleagues, these live infomercial people are “endlessly fascinating.”

People watching in Hong Kong

One of my favorite things to do is to “people watch,” especially in a foreign country. Even though we have only been in Hong Kong for four days, I have noticed several interesting mannerisms thus far. For whatever reason, I have always thought of Asian people as hard workers, and from what I have observed; the people of Hong Kong appear to be no exception. On Friday, Kenneth, Eric and I took a quick break from the heat to enjoy the wonderful air-conditioning in a skyscraper and rehydrate. As we visited, I watched the 3 teenage-young twenties aged attendants in the Circle K convenience store within the building who were working away like little bees. When they didn’t have customers, they were not hanging out chatting; they were busy mopping the floor, restocking, and yes, even taking products off the shelves to clean them! I was humbled and impressed that the Hong Kong people appear to take great pride in their jobs, even if it is a job that Americans would consider menial.

I have also been very impressed with Hong Kong’s emphasis on cleanliness. Even for me, at times, it seems a little over the top (and that is saying something since Kenneth always refers to me as “Melvin” from “As Good As It Gets”). When we entered the Tea Museum on Friday, for instance, there was a sign on the door that said that the entire museum was disinfected every four hours! We came across a similar sign when we were putting our ticket into the machine to get on the cable cars that read the waiting area was cleaned six times a day! As the moving tram cars came in to the docking area, an employee wiped the inside down furiously before the next group loaded up.

Not only do the people of Hong Kong keep their surroundings impeccably clean, but I also feel they have high standards of personal hygiene. Everyone is well groomed and tidy-looking. Despite the ridiculous heat and humidity you rarely smell wafts of body odor. Many women carry wash cloth-type towels to blot the perspiration from their face, and some carry them tucked into the back collar of their shirt.



With 7 million people in this place there is no shortage of opportunities for some people watching!!!

Sunday, June 20th: Lantou and The Big Buddha

On Sunday, we decided to visit Lantau Island, the island just west of Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, Eric wasn’t feeling great in the morning, so it was just the two of us for the day. We took the MTR to the island, and from there we boarded the Ngong Ping Skyrail, a 3.5 mile aerial cable car ride that goes from peak to peak until it reaches a small touristy, white walled village. The village is nestled in a valley that looks up on The Bid Buddha.



It was quite the sight looking up at the largest outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha in the entire world, even though he kept hiding behind clouds! In front of the 250 steps leading up to the Buddha was a courtyard, where people were praying.





Past the courtyard and a large archway was a monastery, were we toured a temple and ate a vegetarian meal of noodles and a few pieces of dim sum including, curry sauce pastry, spring roll, mushroom pastry, and steamed rice cake with black beans.


Inside the Lantau Monastery


View from the cable car on the way back down

While we were in Lantau, Eric had discovered some restaurants close by our apartment. After surveying the options, we decided on “Yummy” Vietnamese Cuisine. And yes, I can confirm that it was in fact very yummy. Kenneth and I split a bowl of Tom Yum soup. This was not any soup. It was served in the largest bowl in which I have ever eaten (about the size of a basketball in diameter), so it was more than enough for the two of us.

Saturday, June 19th: Getting off the island

Today, we decided to venture off Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, which is a peninsula attached to mainland China and located directly across Victoria Harbour! According to my Hong Kong Guide Book, there was supposed to be a really good, hole in the wall restaurant called Friendship Thai in Lok Fu. It was more of a jaunt than expected, and the sunny, hot, and humid weather was wearing us out quick! We discovered quite quickly that the Hong Kongese use their umbrellas for more than just the rain. When the sun is shining, it is relentless since we are so much closer to the equator. According to the local weather the UV radiation index often reaches the level of “extreme.” Even though I am not quite sure what that means, it doesn’t sound good! Unfortunately, when we reached Friendship Thai they were not open, so we went right across the street to Hot Thai Basil. The experience was very enjoyable with awesome food and great service. Kenneth had pad thai and I had a noodle dish with veggies and a spicy chili sauce. Kenneth’s pad thai dish was the closest we have come to Thai Orchid in KC, but I think Thai Orchid still wins!

On our way back to the MTR station, we realized we had completely missed a traditional Hong Kong Cemetery that sat back behind tall concrete walls and climbed steeply up the hill. We were a bit hesitant to enter, as we had no idea what the policy was on visitors and pictures. Because of the lack of land for burying the dead in Hong Kong, there is a 7 year time limit after which time the person loses their spot and must be moved or cremated. There were multiple grave stones, one after the other, going up the hill as well as multiple columbarium, where the ashes of loved ones are stored. It was interesting to see that each person had an individual picture posted where their ashes were placed in the columbarium. Apparently, there is quite a debate about Hong Kong’s need for more columbarium, but no one wants it near them!



Next, we found ourselves walking up and down the streets of the flower, bird, fish, and jade markets. It was amazing smelling and seeing shop after shop of beautiful bunches of roses, carnations, hydrangeas, orchids, lilies, and even sunflowers as well as decorative baskets and figurines made of flower petals. The fish market had aquariums filled with fish in addition to small individual plastic baggies (similar to what you would see at a carnival in the US) of fish. Gold fish seemed to be the most popular because many Asians believe they bring good luck, but there were beta and other tropical fish too. Several shops also sold turtles, frogs, and lizards. Since it was getting to be evening, the Temple night market was also starting to get set up. This market sold everything from electronics and other gadgets to clothes, purses, art, and jewelry. I found myself a nice Jimmy Choo handbag with a big flower on the front, but decided not to get it yet in case I found something else I liked better. Here are some pictures from the different markets:


Flowers in the flower market


Fish in a bag

Unfortunately, we missed the bird market, but we did have a chance to briefly swing through the jade market. It was a female’s jewelry paradise! There were probably about one-hundred small stands within one tented area with all kinds of beautiful jewelry and not just jade pieces. Of course I found several things that I liked, but I knew that I couldn’t spend too much time gawking since I had the two boys with me! Each of the vendors wanted me to come see their merchandise. I found a beautiful jade necklace, but the lady wanted $80 Hong Kong dollars for it. I talked to her for several minutes while I tried on the necklace, showed it to Kenneth, and made my best effort to get a better price! I told her I would pay $50, and she said “no.” Then she wanted me to get 2 necklaces for $150, and I said “no.” I countered, saying I would buy 2 for $100, and she said “no.” Finally after about 5-10 minutes of haggling back and forth with her, I could tell the boys were getting antsy and wanted to go so I just thought I would come back another day. Just as I started to catch up with the boys, the lady called me back and said that she would take $40 for the necklace! I was really excited about my great deal, but at the same time I felt a bit guilty because the lady seemed so defeated that she had not gotten more money out of us.

We were getting hungry, so we made our way near the Kowloon southern coast for dinner. Several places were already booked up, so we went to Shakey’s for a quick dinner so we could make it to the 8 o’clock light show. We arrived at the viewing area for the light show about 30 seconds before it was over, but we were not too disappointed as they have a show every day of the week since it is so popular. From what we did see, it was quite spectacular with the skyscrapers and other buildings on Hong Kong Island lighting up with various colors at different times and coordinated with music. What a day!

NOTE: Batman fans will recognize the tall building as the building Batman jumped off in the Dark Knight

Friday, June 18th: Our first day touring Hong Kong

Although we were able to get some shut-eye for a while, Kenneth and I woke up at about four in the morning due to the jet lag! I am sure that our bed, which is not far from two plywood boards put together with some very strong springs, had something to do with it as well. I am pretty sure that Priya’s floor was softer!

We set out to explore the city in the late morning, and we were all astonished to find that there are markets that line both sides of the street outside our building during the daytime! I looked directly to the left as we stepped out the door, and to my surprise was a lady selling all kinds of fresh fish and other sea creatures. Some of the fish were even still alive and jumping about wildly! Well, that explains that smell and the rats too! There were probably about 40-50 small stands in total selling everything from pork, fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery items, and meat balls to clothing, shoes, and knick-knacks. Here's a picture of the fish shop right outside of our apartment.



Our first goal was to find the Deloitte office, where Eric and Kenneth would be working. Our North Point subway station is about 5-10 minutes from our apartment, and from here you can take the subway to almost anywhere on Hong Kong Island or the mainland. I am extremely impressed with the subway system. It is clean, efficient, and also air-conditioned. People just touch their pre-paid Octopus Card to the sensor to enter and exit the train terminal. This card is quite ingenious and definitely a must-have in Hong Kong. With this card, one can also travel on the buses and buy items at convenient and grocery stores.

After finding the Deloitte office in One Pacific Place and eating lunch at a fast Chinese food restaurant, we made our way to the nearby Hong Kong Park. Here we walked around the beautiful gardens and lake and toured the Edward Youde Aviary, Flagstaff House Teaware Museum, and Conservatory.

For dinner, we decided on a cheap Indian food restaurant called Chillie Garden that is in our North Point neighborhood. It wasn’t the best Indian food, but it was a nice change from Chinese food.

Thursday, June 19th: Getting to Hong Kong

When we arrived to our apartment in North Point we were greeted by the congenial Mr. Chan, who showed us to our apartment on the 16th floor. I knew it was going to be small, but for some reason I was still surprised by how small! My bedroom in Wichita is bigger than our entire apartment! We also have a bathroom, kitchenette, and “closet” area. Proportionally speaking, it was ironic to find that the largest thing in our bedroom is the massive flat screen TV with only 4 Cantonese channels. I am actually glad that we don’t have a wide range of TV channels and that I can’t watch TV or Netflix movies on my computer out of the US. Otherwise, I would be very tempted with all of my free time on my hands!



Eric, Kenneth, and I decided to walk around our area of town and find somewhere to eat dinner for the night. As we walked outside of our apartment towards the main street, my senses were taken aback by several things. First, our side street outside of our apartment reeked of a “fishy-fish” smell. Secondly, about 25-50 yards from our apartment were multiple rats scurrying around! Fortunately, this would be our first and only rat sighting!

The main street was lined with neon-lighted signs in Chinese characters that none of us could understand, but eventually we came across the same hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that Eric had eaten at during his first time to Hong Kong.

Catching up

So even though we haven't been posting a lot on our blog, we have been documenting our trip fairly well. Melinda has been writing a lot of stuff offline that we are going to start posting. Keep in mind that much of this has been written gradually over the course of the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Saturday in the City

OK, so this blogging thing is much tougher than I expected. Actually, that’s not true, I knew that it would be difficult to consistently devote time to documenting our adventures. More appropriately, I should say that my poor time management skills have completely lived up to expectations and the quality of my blog has suffered immensely. Whoops. Realizing that I have skipped a few weeks, here is a quick recap of yesterday’s activities…

After spending Friday night strolling through the Temple street night market looking for a cheap tripod and a particular Jimmy Choo knockoff purse, we got around a little later than expected on Saturday. When we finally ventured out, we made our way to the Tourism Office at Tsim Sha Tsui where Melinda signed up for some of the Cultural Kaleidoscope classes. She took 2 classes last week, and really had great time learning about jewelry and tea. More to come from her on those topics in the not too distant future.

From there, we set off in search of a few tailors that I had heard about: Raja Fashions and David Fashions. Both stores run pretty slick operations. In addition to making bespoke suits in HK, they make frequent trips to the US, London, and a few other hot spots, to visit old customers for repeat business and find new customers. Although they can make suits in as little as 2 days, I’m hoping to spend a little more time with them to get a high quality suit that I really like. After flipping through swatches of fabric for almost an hour, I settled on a navy blue with subtle pinstripes. I didn’t pull the trigger on the suit yet, though. This week I will spend some more time looking through various styles to make sure I know what I’m talking about when I talk through the style that I want. It’s a pretty interesting process that is pretty fun if you like clothes and don’t mind taking a little extra time to really figure out what you want.

The next stop was intended to be a nice dimsum meal at Maxim’s in City Hall, but the restaurant was booked. We found another restaurant in the area, though, as well as some great views of some of the buildings downtown.

Hong Kong at night is a pretty amazing sight. To get some more great views of the city, we took our first trip up to Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram. The tram has been in operation for around 100 years, and climbs at a 45 degree angle up the mountain. Here’s a picture of the train at the station.



It’s a pretty cool ride, and the view at the top is even cooler. I got to put my new $12 tripod to the test, and although I definitely have some more work to do on night photography, I was pleased with the results.



OK - enough for now. Like I said, we'll try to do better. Also, Happy 4th of July. Kind of crazy, but this is our 2nd year in a row celebrating the 4th of July overseas. Last year we were in Bora Bora on our honeymoon, and this year in Hong Kong.