Good to be Home Once More

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharal Nehru

"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey." — Pat Conroy

I have truly enjoyed our recent travels.  Although we took some wrong turns in trying to find various places, they were truly not wrong turns as they allowed us to experience something unanticipated.  Many people helped us find the right path after we got lost.  But as Lawrence Block wrote, "Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else."  

However, I will confess that one of the more amusing moments was while we were trying to find the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin.  Two Britons overheard us speaking in English and asked us for directions to the monastery.  :-)  I had a rough idea due to my Internet research and invited them to come with us. To my surprise, they were expatriates who had been living in Hong Kong for 3 months. I was shocked that I knew more than they did about the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery.

But before I become too smug, I owe it all to the Internet.  :-)  Without the 'Net, I would not have found out about many of the sights and eateries that we enjoyed.  Heck, without the 'Net, Google Maps in particular, I would not have even been able to find many of these places.

To see our relatives in Hong Kong once more, especially "Gooh Paw", was rewarding.  Finally meeting Daisy, the National University of Singapore's coordinator for the University of California's Education Abroad Program, after many Emails was fantastic.  Seeing new sights, eating new foods, and meeting different people were all part of the mosaic of our voyage.

Gooh Paw waving goodbye at us from the sixth floor

Special kudos to Kacy who went everywhere and tried everything without a complaint.  As this was her first trip to Asia, I am sure she found many of the meals, sights and sounds to be vastly different from what she is accustomed to.  But through it all, she always had a smile and was always in a good mood.  More importantly, she put up with Patrick  :-)

Thanks to Patrick for showing us the many places he enjoyed during his time in Singapore.  With his insight, we experienced Singapore almost as if we were native Singaporeans. Also thanks to his unerring navigational skills as we could have easily ended up lost without him both in Singapore and in Hong Kong.

Many thanks to Teri for ordering for us in the many eateries in Hong Kong that were not used to having English-only speakers as customers.  Without Teri's knowledge of Cantonese, we would have been totally bewildered as to what to order and would not have enjoyed many of the meals that we did.  Last but not least, thanks to Teri for bearing with me as I can be grouchy at times, especially in the morning hours.  :-)

I took many photographs but there are far more images and experiences within my mind.  Although it may sound ostentatious, this most recent journey is but the latest chapter of the book of my life.  As Saint Augustine wrote, “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.“ I plan to have more journeys and more experiences as time goes by.  But until my next journey, it is good to be home once more.

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -- Lin Yutang

Good to be home among friends and family once more. :-)

The Next Generation

At the dinner with our relatives in Hong Kong, we met the latest additions to our extended family, three young boys.  I can hardly wait until "Parker", my soon to be born grandson, joins them.  :-)

Residual Effect?

Hmmm, you do not suppose the real reason that I am feeling bleary eyed and zoned out is due to the residual effect of consuming copious amounts of beer on our last night in Singapore?

Before I am lambasted for behaving in a drunken manner with Patrick, let it be made clear that Teri consumed the contents of at least one of the cans.  Who knows?  Kacy may have drank the contents of one can as well.  :-)  Thus Patrick and I were not completely responsible for all of the beer that was consumed that evening.  Besides, it takes a stone cold sober state of mind to construct the pyramid of beer cans.  :-)

"Taste every fruit of every tree in the garden at least once. It is an insult to creation not to experience it fully. Temperance is wickedness. "  Stephen Fry

Bleary Eyed and Zoned Out

Today is my second day back from Hong Kong and Singapore.  Even though I am bleary eyed and somewhat zoned out, I am feeling better.  I still get hungry and sleepy at odd times.  However, I am able to catch up on laundry, do some chores, surf the net and periodically post on my blog.  I do have a few more posts to do and will conclude this blog shortly.  I may not be bright eyed and bushy tail but I will be back at work on Wednesday.  I can see myself consuming countless cups of coffee tomorrow.

YMCA Salisbury Hotel in Hong Kong

 The YMCA Salisbury Hotel with the venerable Peninsula Hotel on the right

In Hong Kong, we stayed at the YMCA Salisbury.  I confess that the appellation of YMCA conjures up an image of bunk beds with shared bathroom facilities in a spartan dormitory room setting. However, the hotel is worthy of being considered a three to four star hotel.

The hotel's location is great for easy access to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR subway station and the Star Ferry, across the street from the Hong Kong Cultural Center and the Museum of Art, and last but not least, an easy walk to 3 different Starbucks.  Starbucks may not be the connoisseur's idea of a good coffee shop but when we landed at 6:30 AM Hong Kong time, we simply wanted caffeine period.

Furthermore, the views from the Harbour view rooms and suites are on a par with those of the world renown Peninsula Hotel.  However, the Harbour view rooms at the Peninsula start at $750 nightly while a room with a comparable view at the YMCA Salisbury starts at $130 while a corner suite with a Harbour view starts at $230.  Needless to say, the furnishings at the Peninsula are far more opulent and the service is certainly far more attentive.  But with the money you save, you can splurge on dinner or on shopping.  :-)  See the photos below of a Harbourview Room and the view from our Harbourview Suite in 2008.  For information, note the following:  YMCA Salisbury Hotel

Millennium Orchard Hotel in Singapore

We stayed at the Millennium Orchard Hotel at 442 Orchard Road, the main shopping area of Singapore.   We took advantage of the amenities afforded by the Signature Club level at the hotel.  Per its website, "The Signature Club rooms at Orchard Hotel, offering you the ultimate boutique resting paradise are exquisitely designed by world-renowned French interior designer - Pierre Yves Rochon. Contemporary and classy, in a design of Oriental decor and European styling, you may revel in the luxurious Regal Red (frankly, I found the Red to be more of a Brothel Red than Regal Red), tranquil Ming Blue or the soothing Celadon Green room. The Signature Club room is a cosy 28sqm retreat filled with modern indulgences for a delightful stay. Enjoy the perfect relaxation with technological refinements such as mood lighting, invigorating rain showers & hydro-massage jets in the bathroom as well as a BOSE wave radio with full iPod connectivity for your musical entertainment."  Among the other amenities, the Signature Club level also provided a free breakfast with eggs cooked to order and a complimentary evening reception from 6 to 8 PM.   :-)  Toss in free laundry for two articles daily (i.e.,  slacks, shirts, etc.), it was quite nice.

We found the staff at the hotel to be very friendly and helpful.  The rate for the Signature Club level room was in line for all of the privileges that were included.  BTW, I requested a Ming Blue room :-)  For information on the hotel, click on the following:  Millennium Orchard Hotel

Belated Post on Yo:Ha and Boon Lay area in Singapore

While in Singapore, Patrick wanted to show us his National University of Singapore student housing, Yo:Ha, short for Your Habitat.  Here are some photos of his home neighborhood while in Singapore, the bakery where he bought one of his favorite snacks, waffles, and the place where he got his haircuts despite not being able to communicate well with the hair cutters.  :-) 

 The Yo:Ha hostel itself and Patrick by the front door to his former apartment

As seen from the floor that Pat lived in for almost 6 months

Belated Post on Little India in Singapore

We went to Mustafa Centre, a 24/7 mall, located in the Little India neighborhood of Singapore.  Specifically, Teri and Kacy wanted to purchase saffron and curry.  All bags have to be surrendered before going into the Centre.  As we did not wish to leave the valuables in our bags out of our sight and possession, Pat and I were standing outside in the sweltering heat and humidity waiting for Teri and Kacy to complete their purchases.  Here are some photos I took of Little India.

McSpicy Burger in Singapore

 

On Pat's recommendation, I decided to try the McSpicy burger, a chicken burger with a thick thigh chop prepared with a special spicy zest, in Singapore.  The burger was not bad but it was not as spicy as I had anticipated.  Apparently I could have added more spice to it via the chili sauce dispensers that are commonly found next to the ketchup dispensers.  However, I just scarfed up the McSpicy without any additional zest or zing.  :-)

Kacy and Pat also enjoying McSpicy burgers

Belated Post on Banana Leaf Apolo in Singapore

 As both Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel savored the fish head curry at Banana Leaf Apolo, we decided to go to Little India and taste this delicacy ourselves.  We ordered one medium size fish head curry along with individual Indian dishes for our lunch.  Somewhat surprising to me, I even enjoyed the fish meat that was to be found in the fish head curry dish.  :-)   We enjoyed the guava juice as well although I also drank my usual Tiger beer.

We ate on banana leaf place mats.  Although we were given a fork and a spoon, we chose to eat in the traditional manner, with our fingers only.  According to Pat, my technique for using my fingers to place the food and the rice in particular into my mouth was horrendous.  However, I figure as long as the food gets into my mouth, I consider it to be a success.  :-)

The famous fish head curry in the photo below

Singapore Transportation

We often found that it was much easier and far quicker to take a taxi in Singapore instead of using the MRT, the rail and subway system.  The drivers are very honest and the fares are reasonable, especially when there were four of us.  The fares are metered and are closely monitored by the government of Singapore.  Moreover, we were usually able to hail a taxi within minutes.  There is a surcharge during commute hours that makes the ride more expensive but we still found taxis to be quite affordable.

To and from the airport, we decided to reserve a van as most taxis in Singapore are Toyota Corollas.  Thus it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to take all four of us with our assorted luggage and carry-on bags in one taxi.  Not wishing to use two different taxis, we simply reserved the van for about $35 American each way.  The van driver met us at the Arrivals Gate and quickly whisked us to our hotel in Singapore.  For information, note the following:  Merz Cab Singapore

Getting to the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari is a rather complicated process using public transit.  As a result, we decided to take the Singapore Attractions Express Bus to the Zoo instead.  The bus stop was right outside our hotel and the fare was the equivalent of $6 round trip.  I highly recommend this if you are planning to visit the zoo in Singapore.  The link is Singapore Attractions Express Bus to Zoo

Pierce Brosnan

Since I was running out of movies that I had even a remote interest in viewing on one of my flights, I decided to watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief.  The movie was rather cute but not really worth seeing. However, one redeeming element of the movie was the opportunity to see Pierce Brosnan as a centaur. :-)  At least he did not have to sing as he tried, and failed miserably to do, in the movie version of Mama Mia.

Cathay Pacific Airlines

We had a slight scare at Hong Kong International Airport Sunday night as we were attempting to check-in.  The person behind the counter believed that we had missed our flight, that we were actually scheduled to take off at 12:30 AM on June 27, Sunday morning, and not at 12:30 AM, June 28, Monday morning.  Nightmarish thoughts began to dance in my mind.  But I told her that our itinerary specifically stated that we were to take off on June 28.  I had confirmed on the Cathay Pacific Airlines website itself that our departure flight from HKG was on the 28th, not the 27th.

After a few anxious moments, she confirmed that we were indeed scheduled to depart on the 28th.  When I asked her what caused the confusion, she cryptically said something to the effect that there is no penalty.  IMHO, this was a bizarre answer as we had not changed our itinerary to begin with so what was this nonsense about "no penalty".  However, since we had our boarding passes in hand and our luggage had already been checked through, I decided this was not the time to raise a ruckus.  What is the old say?  "Win the battle but lose the war".

I should note that Cathay Pacific Airline's Boeing 747s have power outlets at each seat in Economy Class.  Thus you can use your laptops and other electronic devices even if your battery power is being used up quickly.  The power outlets will accept either American or UK style plugs.  Pat was able to watch his own movies and read his E-Books throughout the flight on his I Pad and not worry about draining his battery since there was a power outlet handy.
Moreover, the video selections such as movies, TV shows, music, etc. are all "on demand".  As a result, you can start a movie whenever you wish to, pause a movie, fast forward or reverse, etc.  The on demand feature is far superior to what we experienced on other planes that start movies at a specific time.  If you miss the first 10 minutes or so of a movie, too bad.  Moreover, you cannot pause the movie so if you miss a part of the movie due to a bathroom break, again too bad.  Consequently, we really enjoyed the movie options on Cathay Pacific.

Among the movies I viewed were Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon, Sherlock Holmes, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.  As Pat said, Avatar was indeed Dancing with Smurfs.  :-)

Marco Polo Club

After taking advantage of the Marco Polo Club benefits, primarily early boarding and priority check-in lines at the airports, I highly recommend joining Cathay Pacific Airline's Marco Polo Club.  The priority check-in lines at the various airports were a nice benefit as they allowed us to bypass the much longer Economy Class check-in lines.  However, the main benefit that we really appreciated was the early boarding privileges afforded to both the Club member and partner.  As the non-Marco Polo Club passengers for Economy class began to crowd together for boarding, we were able to board early with the First Class and Business Class passengers.

Not only did this allow us to board in a relatively leisurely pace, it allowed us to secure our overhead bin space before the other Economy Class passengers even boarded.  Two years ago, we experienced a situation where people who boarded ahead of us had taken practically all of the overhead bin space before we even boarded.  Thus we took full advantage of the early boarding privileges that the Marco Polo Club afforded us.

The annual fee is $50 but I only intend to renew it when I am about to go on my next trip to Hong Kong and/or Singapore.   We found the club privileges to be more than worth the fee for this vacation.   For more information, note the following link:  Marco Polo Club

Back in San Rafael

 Hong Kong Cultural Center in the rain, located across the street from our hotel

Our last day in Hong Kong was a dreary rainy day.  Thus we could not visit the places we had hoped to see on our last day.  However, the silver lining was that it allowed us to rest and relax before going to the airport.

Pat and Teri in the rain as we walked towards our hotel

Other than three screaming babies who seem to take turns crying, it was an uneventful flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco.  During the flight, I had my headset on and could not hear the crying and screaming.  As the plane was making its descent to SFO, all three babies performed a cacophonous climax of crying.  Alas, all electronic devices had to be turned off so I no longer could use music to drown out the babies.  But by that time, the prospect of being home soon allowed me to listen to the cacophony with barely a discordant thought.   Ah yes, nothing could disturb my positive frame of mind as our plane approached SFO.

 My brother James was kind enough to pick us all up at the airport once we had passed through security and had retrieved our baggage.  At approximately midnight, we dropped Kacy off and finally returned home.  Surprisingly, I slept well from about 2:30 AM to 7:30 AM.  After eating a light morning repast, I feel somewhat normal.  However, I will probably find myself needing a nap shortly.  After all, it may be 8:50 AM in San Rafael as I type this post but it is 11:50 PM at night in Hong Kong.

I will post more entries when I get a chance.  Some will be "overdue" posts and others will be suggestions if and when you all should go to Hong Kong or Singapore.