San Juan, La Union

28 May 2008: I’m typing while on a plane from Manila to Iloilo to see Sean’s Aunty Vicky. We finally took off, after a 2 ½ hour delay. It’s about time! But, here’s a little bit about our previous trip.

Last Friday, we took off from Manila to San Juan, La Union which is in the Northern Luzon Province, considered the surfing capital of the Philippines. I asked our hotel concierge, Jun, how much it would cost to get a driver to take us there and he first gave us the “hotel” price. I asked him if there was any less expensive option and he hooked us up with Arvin. Unlike “drivers” in Europe, Arvin was not dressed up in a black suit, driving us in a slick, black Audi A6. Instead, he had an old white Toyota Corolla with peeling window tint and the strong scent of air freshener. But, it got us there! Apparently, there was confusion the evening that Sean called and arranged the ride. Arvin and his buddies already had a few beers. He picked us up expecting to take us to San Juan, Batangas, not La Union. That’s about halfway to where we wanted to go, so poor Arvin was in for a much longer day than he expected. He probably said goodbye to his family and told them he’d be back in the afternoon, but ended up getting home that night at 1:30am! Going down European freeways, 200-300 kilometers would have taken us 2-3 hours. In the Philippines, that same distance took us approximately 6 hours. Luckily, he didn’t charge us any more than the quoted price.

We left the bumper to bumper traffic of Manila down an expressway and I thought we were on our way. Shortly there after, we were on the MacArthur Freeway, a one lane road going through town, after town, after town. In between, there might be a large field with a caribou (water buffalo) or two and sometimes goats or chicken. Somewhere in the middle, we also saw quite a bit of damage from the typhoons that hit the Philippines the week before, the one’s that put a damper on the Boracay weather. This area was the hardest hit from the storms and we went through a couple towns that probably didn’t have electricity for a week. In this smoky area, they were still cleaning up the downed trees and power lines and burning branches. Some of the shacks were completely obliterated and corrugated metal roof tops were pulled up like an orange peel. Arvin was a good driver, but to drive in the Philippines is quite sketchy. I don’t think I’d attempt it, and I’ve driven in Central America. There’s this kind of organized chaos that takes some getting used to. Everyone goes wherever, however, to get to where they need to go. They honk every time they come up to someone, and they attempt to pass everyone they come up to. I still wonder if they need to replace their horns, which is unlikely in the US.

We stayed at the Sunset German Beach Resort where our stark room consisted of concrete floor, stucco walls and a bed platform made of brick. It reminded me of a large prison cell. I supposed it’s good for withstanding typhoons (although that area was not hit hard the week before) and rowdy surfers. It wasn’t smelly and there were no bugs. And at least, I didn’t have to worry about tracking sand in there or Kai breaking anything. The owners of the resort, Jan (German, pronounced “John”) and “Naynay” (Filipina wife, name literally meaning “second eldest daughter”) were very friendly, the rest of the grounds were very lovely with lush foliage and the food was excellent. Kailani instantly took a liking to all their very slim cats, including the smallest kitten she’s ever seen. It probably easily fit in Sean’s palm. Sean ate his share of homemade German sausage that was better than anything we had in Germany. And, their Filipino food was great too! The best part was that you just walked right out onto a beach, probably about a mile long, where you were lucky if you saw anyone. The sand wasn’t quite as white as Boracay, and the water wasn’t as blue as either. But, there wasn’t garbage all over the beach like in Boracay either. The water was warm and the weather steaming hot, so it was no effort to jump in and get wet. Unfortunately, the waves on this beach break were only ankle high. They only really pick up when there are typhoons. So yes, if we’d only flip-flopped the weeks we went to Boracay and San Juan, it would have been perfect.

We made the best with what we had and taught Kai how to ride waves on a boogie board for a couple days. Then, we graduated her to a long board. (The board was apparently left by Ken Kneeve (or Kim Kneefe?) from, of all places, San Jose. Apparently, he worked in management for BMW and would go there yearly. One year, he told Jan he was switching to Ford, the American car market took a dump and he never came back again. Thanks for use of the board!) Sean and I switched off on the board, sometimes with Kai laying on the front. She’s getting really brave in the water now. She kept jumping off the board or out of our arms and trying to swim. She’s able to hold her breath, kick her legs and paddle her arms. But, her head still doesn’t want to pop above water for her to breathe. Hopefully soon! Unfortunately, we all ended up a bit pinker than we should have that day, mostly my back and Sean’s. We enjoyed the longboarding a bit longer than expected and didn’t sunscreen our backs as we should have.

We started changing our minds about staying there a week. If we did, we’d only have a few more days left before flying to Bangkok. And, anywhere else we wanted to go to was a journey not worth just a couple days. So, the option was to stay in the “prison cell” for an extra half week, but that was getting old. Or we could say in Manila, but there was not much we wanted to do there. Also, guilt about flying halfway across the world and not seeing Sean’s aunt got the best of us. So, we called Arvin for a ride back to Manila. Of course, the waves picked up a little the morning that we left! The ride was almost as grueling as the ride there, but we managed. I took advantage of having Arvin there and asked all the questions I could think of about things in the Philippines, like “What the heck is up with all the ‘Pig Fattening Service’ signs on the side of the road?” and “What do they do with the goats?” and “You mean they only eat the goat meat and don’t milk the goats?!?!”

In Manila, I was finally able to get online and book flights to Iloilo, where Sean’s aunt lives. I tried to do in San Juan, but had trouble paying by credit card. I finally broke down and we went back to the mall to get a used cell phone (armed with some advice from Arvin), and Sean got Kai some movie downloads for his PSP (which we’ve had issues downloading ourselves). Oh yea, it’s actually MINE, given to me by Sean for Christmas! ;-) Going into the area of the mall where the cell phones and other techy stuff is sold is like an indoor flea market. All around you are the women at their counters trying to get your attention, with their singing voices, saying “Sir, Ma’am”, “Ma’am, sir, blah blah blah for sale for cheap!”. It’s hard to explain, but I don’t think I’ll forget what it sounds like. The other thing we hear a lot are the ladies that come up to Kai asking “Hi baby, what’s your name?” and “How old are you?” It’s hard to explain. You just have to hear it.

Boracay Part 2

Us on Puka Beach, Boracay Island

Sean's Sand Turtle (Kai and I made one too, but not quite the same quality as this one.)

The two very full, very heavy bags of trash we picked up, just from the little stretch of beach we were hanging out on.

The boat we took from Boracay Island to the Catlican airport. See Sean lugging our huge suitcases on that flimsy little plank?!?

17 May 2008: Apparently, we arrived to Boracay right in the middle of a big storm, with another one right behind it called Cosme. The day we arrived was also declared the official beginning of monsoon season. Good timing, huh? Sean’s been pretty nervous about the storms coming in and out of the area and keeping close tabs on the news, especially the one that just hit the Luzon province, our destination next week. We’re crossing our fingers that weather won’t an issue for the rest of our stay in this country.

The first five days in Boracay were less than stellar weather, lots of wind and fast gusts of rain, even some thunder and lightning. But we made the most of it, either staying inside, letting Kai nap well and watching TV including an American Idol marathon. We got to see an entire season, so we were prepared for the season finale. And when there were small breaks in the weather, we’d go out and play in the sand/water or go out to eat. Sean enjoyed body surfing and skim boarding. One night, he taught Kai how to play pool downstairs from our room at Mango Ray. Kai enjoyed making sand castles with some sand toys we bought her. Sean liked eating Filipino breakfast every morning, with rice, corned beef and fried eggs. Kai liked having juices made from fresh fruit as well as her daily yogurt from a European deli that we found in D’Mall. There, I also found some Tuscan mineral water, cheese and salami, and lemon for my daily morning drink, hot water with a squeeze of lemon wedge. I became addicted to one of the restaurants in D’Mall, Aria, where we ate at least once a day. They served Italian food. Although I’m still “over” pasta after Italy, they had salads made from organic lettuce and arugula and pizzas made in a wood fired brick oven. We also tried some other places there, such as a place that had great BBQ and a sushi place. Our last night there, we got a tip to take a short tricycle ride down to the other side of the beach, to this place, D’Talipapa. It was similar to D’Mall, with souvenirs stalls, etc. But, it also had a fresh fish, meat and produce market area. We picked up a Lapu Lapu fish, the local fish, as well as a couple huge prawns. From there, you take it to one of the stalls that offer cooking services, where they grilled it up for us and served it with vegetable rice. That was definitely a cool experience! Too bad Kai decided to nap the entire time!

On day two, we moved accommodations from Le Soleil de Boracay to Mango Ray, just a couple doors down. We pretty much moved from a bona fide hotel to a small 10 room operation. But, it’s fine with me. The place is quite sufficient, and they gave us a break so we’re saving a couple thousand pesos. The bummer is, after we went through all the trouble of checking out of the first place, moved our stuff into the second place and settled down, they tell us that they made a mistake and we can only have our room for 3 days instead of 5. The offered us other rooms, but I don’t like any as much as the one we’re in. Only one comes close, but it has two twin beds. I really didn’t want to move again! The other bummer is that the room smells like insect killer spray, which it didn’t when we first saw it. (I hope that’s not why Kailani and I can’t seem to do anything but sleep!) After the first night, these fast little baby ants started coming out of the woodwork. So, now I understand why. So for the last two days, we moved to The Tides, a “designer” hotel right in D’Mall. Although the price goes up even a tad higher than place #1, I don’t care to stay at Mango Ray out of principle. It’s quite a bummer! I guess we’ll be sampling a few places along this stretch of the beach. I might as well review them when we’re done. I’ve also come to the conclusion that my backpacker days are over. I’d rather stay in nicer places than I used to a decade or two ago. Good bye backpacker and welcome flashpacker status, with child in tow!

The last two days, the weather finally got better. It cleared up in the afternoon. So after dinner, we played in the sand by moonlight with live music from one of the bars in the background. The next day, we hired a driver to take us to see the rest of the island. He took us up to the highest peak with a great view. At the entrance, the owner of the land (you had a pay a few pesos) Kai saw her first live monkey, who decided to lunge at her. It scared the heck out of Sean and I, but we both grabbed him before he could do damage. Then, we went to another beach called Puka Beach. (ie puka shell necklaces) Puka beach was described to us as “just like White Beach back in the 80’s”. It had beautiful white sand as well, and the clearest, bluest water we’ve ever seen, but no resorts, shops, restaurants or people. We would have loved to stay there, but we weren’t prepared and didn’t want to make the driver wait for us. So, we went back to White Beach for more play time. Unfortunately, the recent storms must have pushed a lot of trash onto the beach, or trash was washed into the water from runoff. We’re not sure. But, it was pretty hard for me to play around without seeing it everywhere. While playing with Kai, I started with picking up what was floating next to me, and what I was walking over. Eventually, we had two HUGE bags full of trash, and that was only from the small stretch of beach where we sat. I’d say 95% of that was plastic, mostly bags. Unfortunately, what you see sold in stores are lots of small bags/packets rather than larger bottles of cosmetics, soaps, detergents, etc. We saw lots of these in the water, as well as plastic bags that held food snacks and candies, and shopping bags. Originally, I wanted to think that it was a culmination of currents picking up stuff from neighboring countries and all landing there. But, all you had to do was read the label on the bags to find that they were all manufactured in the Philippines. It was a sad reality. We carried the trash up to the foot path and couldn’t find any trash cans to deposit it into either. Finally, we were at the reception area of our resort, so I asked the staff they could take it for us. The gal said “your husband must be very environmental”. What’s up with that?!? “Your husband”? Anyway, Kai still had a great time making sand turtles and “swimming” in the water. She’s really getting brave getting out there, going underwater, and paddling her arms and kicking her feet.

On our flight back to Manila we were actually bumped to a flight a couple minutes earlier AND no delays/cancellations, yea! On the shuttle/ferry to the airport, we met couple, Eileen and Mark, who was also staying at the Tides. We had a nice time hanging out at the Asian Spirit pre-departure lounge that Mark pointed out, rather than the stuffy, overcrowded area that everyone else was at. Thanks Mark!

Back at the Mandarin in Manila, we’re making the most out of the two days here. The room came with a similar model MFC printer as what we own. So, we photocopied stuff we’ve needed to do, sent letters off, repacked, consolidated and found another stack of stuff to send home. We did laundry, which now consists of sink washing and hanging with the AC on, if we can stand it that cold (although I know, not the most energy efficient). Then, we finish drying with the hair dryer and iron as needed. We used their business center to print etickets. Then, we ventured to the mall, a huge Filipino past time. I tried to get a new SIM card from our Spanish Vodaphone cell phone. But, the phone’s software doesn’t seem to be compatible (or reprogrammable), despite what the guy that sold it to me said. So, we might just have to buy a whole new phone. Urgh! And one more thing, we watched the season finale of American Idol. Not that I’m a huge fan, but after that seeing the whole season…of course HAD to see the end! :-)

Manila to Boracay, Philippines

An "average" Jeepney (Some are way more tricked out than this)


Arrival at the airport and we get the max the ATM would allow, 4000 pesos, equivalent to USD $100. Looks like alot, huh?

Tricycle (Look at how they load them up on the right.)


12 May 2008: The overall impression that we had of Manila, from several people that have been there, is that it’s not the place you would want to visit, but the place you need to stop over at in order to get to some of the places you want to visit in the Philippines. With that said, we were expecting dirty, crowded and not so pleasant. We also heard that you can get screwed when taking taxis. So, with the exchange rate on our favor, we splurged and got a nice hotel that offered a driver to pick you up at the airport. We had our camera ready to take a picture of this guy holding up a sign that said “Riola”. ;-) But instead, we found that we needed to check-in at our hotel’s airport waiting lounge. On the way to the hotel, I saw two modes of transportation popular in the Philippines, jeepneys and tricycles. Jeepneys are these crazy Jeep-like vehicles that have an extended covered bed with two benches facing each other, to hold 18-20 passengers. They fully trick them out with Pinoy (Filipino) style graphics and lighting all over. Tricycles are motorcycles with side car attachments that hold up to five passengers, if the driver allows one or two passengers to sit on the back of his seat. It’s crazy to think that a motorcycle, designed to haul one or two passengers, can still haul that many people. It’s hard to describe, so I hope to take some pictures.

Sadly, just like in London, we spent an entire day and two nights at our hotel without leaving. At least this time, we did leave the building, to go swimming. We needed to make arrangements to get to other places in the Philippines (which are cheaper to make while you are there), and luckily our hotel had a travel agent. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to check one of Manila’s big pastimes, the mall. Because, I do need a new cell phone SIM card now that we’re in on a new continent. After the first night, I noticed that they upgraded us to a “Club Level” room, so decided to see if we were also allowed into the Club Lounge for free services. Unfortunately not, but for a mere 2000 pesos, we could. After paying for late night room service for dinner, we figured that the drinks, snacks and breakfast offered were worth it. We took full advantage of happy hour and hor’s oeuvres. The next morning, while going in there for breakfast, Sean noticed that some guy walking in at the same time as us looked familiar. He put his stuff down on a table and went to the buffet to get breakfast. We noticed that he had a script, Road Raiders. I tried to take a good look at him and but it was awkward when he looked back at me. Since I didn’t know who he was, I left it at that. The hotel, having such great service, asked us if we would like to sit in one of their open board rooms. We did have a two year old with us and I’m sure they didn’t want her to disrupt the calm atmosphere of their Club Lounge. While eating in the room, Sean finally figured out who the familiar fellow was, at least where he noticed the guy from. He said “It’s Mr. Brown!” referring to the movie Reservoir Dogs. He was the guy who had the cop tied up and was to cut his ears off. After breakfast, when the driver took us back to the airport for our next destination, he told us that “Mr. Brown’s” name was Michael Madson.

Our next destination was the island of Boracay, via flight to the city of Caticlan. Manila’s domestic terminal was pretty much as I expected it, not so modern and crowded full of Filippino’s. Sean described it as the DMV. I’d say it was that times a hundred. I didn’t see a Caucasian person anywhere, until I finally looked harder and saw a few hovering in the corners, trying not to stand out. It’s pretty strange being in the Philippines, because most are speaking Tagolog to me. Although a bit flattering, it’s starting to get a bit annoying to keep having to ask them to speak English to me. All have been surprised to find that I’m not Filipino and that Sean actually is (at least half). We actually arrived to the airport for our 12:30 flight early enough that they bumped us to the flight an hour earlier. It didn’t matter much though, because our flight was delayed due to bad weather at our destination. I do have to mention that this was the smallest plane that Sean’s ever been on, so he had butterflies in his stomach the entire wait. Finally, we were able to board the plane. But, our plane landed at the heavily raining Kalibo airport instead of Caticlan. From there, we were put on a shuttle bus that took nearly 2 hours. The bus was entertained with the movie The Transporter. I read the very expensive Lonely Planet Thailand book that I picked up on the way to the Hong Kong airport, and then a bit of the Rough Guide’s The Philippines. (I decided I like Lonely Planet books over Rough Guides.) After a while, I looked outside to see flooded rice patties with buffalos. It hit me that we were definitely out in the countryside of a third world country now! From the bus, we ended up at the Ferry Terminal that’s supposed to take you to the island of Boracay. But again, because of the weather, the ferry wasn’t operating. Our hotel shuttle was supposed to pick us up there. But instead, we ended up on another shuttle going back the other way. And then, we were put on this big outrigger boat with motor that finally took us to the island. From there, we were finally put into the hotel shuttle to our hotel. Still, we had to get out and walk down a path along the beach, with rain going sideways, to the hotel. Even at the hotel, because of the weather, our poor bell boy had to carry, or should I say lug (rather than roll on a cart) our luggage to our room, taking the long way around, because parts of the path to our room was all flooded out. We finally ended up at the hotel in time for dinner, instead of early afternoon. By then, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We ate like pigs. The hotel had a buffet full of typical Filipino food: rice, grilled fish, BBQ beef kabobs, pork (would you like some fat with that?), etc. Sleeping that night, we woke up many times, hearing it dumping really hard. It wasn’t a great start to our “island paradise” visit. But, at least we have a week for the weather to hopefully die down.

Our next morning in Boracay, we woke and had breakfast buffet at our hotel. Again, it was typical Filipino food. Sean had rice, corned beef and a fried egg. I had rice congee. After, Kai and I played in the pool a bit. The shallow end of the pool had this gradual slope to it, which was great for Kai to run around in. Then, we headed down the path along our beach. It’s called The White Sand Beach and is beautiful with the softest sand we’ve ever felt. I’m sure will be even better when the weather clears. There are several rumors, but one is that it got its name from the local word for cotton, “borac”. It was still raining on and off. Along the path, there were other resorts (they call anything that you can sleep in a “resort”), restaurants and lots of people trying to sell you sunglasses, watches, jewelry, etc, much like Mexico or Thailand beach areas. We were staying right in the middle of the 7 km stretch of beach. To the south, it seemed to get more “Tijuana-esque”. To the north end of the beach, the beach broadened out and there seemed to be higher end resorts. Two sad sights were small children begging for money towards the southern end of the beach. Also scattered throughout, we saw a few Caucasian men with their young Filipina girlfriends. One couple we walked behind, the girl’s stature looked like she couldn’t be more than 15 years old. It’s a sad, ugly reality! I’m sure we’ll see more of this, especially as we get into Thailand. We explored Boracay’s “D’Mall”, basically an open air cluster of shops selling souvenirs and other things that tourists might want, also with a “food court” area. We snacked on some BBQ chicken at the place that was crowded with other Filipinos. We were to be in Boracay a week, but only booked our hotel for 2 nights. It was nice, but booked by the travel agent at the luxury hotel in Manila, and we weren’t sure if we want to spend that much if not necessary. So, part of our exploration was to find a less expensive place. The last half of our day, we played in the waves and built sandcastles. After dinner, again at the hotel, the wind really started howling and the power even started flickering on and off. Luckily, the hotel had back up power. But, it seems that we arrived for a pretty good storm.

Earthquake in China

I still need to post an update on the rest of Hong Kong. But for those that heard about the earthquake in China, although it might have been quite possible to feel it from Hong Kong, from what we gathered on the news, our plane to Manila left 15 minutes before it happened. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this powerful quake.

Hong Kong Part 2

The Farmer's Market

The producers of the Farmer's Market heavily discouraged the use of plastic bags, so offered to take home your veggies wrapped in banana leaves instead. Pretty cool, huh?

10 May 2008: On day 3 of 4 in Hong Kong, the weather actually cooled down comfortable enough to the point that we weren’t sweating like pigs. We made it to Maxim’s at City Hall for dim sum early enough too. Although we made it 20 minutes after opening and before the “rush”, we still waited 45 minutes for a table. Not too bad but it’s still tough when you’re hungry. I felt sorry for the people after us that were told they’d wait an hour and a half! Both Kailani and I especially liked the sesame balls. But, everything we got tasted great, and even the service was great! (Again, thanks Leslie!)

We decided that the rest of the day was dedicated to Kailani, both options were outdoors. Unfortunately, it started dumping rain. I noticed the Post Office was open that day, Saturday, and closed on Sundays, and we were leaving on Monday. So, we decided to go back to the hotel to pick up some more stuff we wanted to ship back to California. We gave up on hanging onto any extra clothes “just in case”. It just seemed too hot to hang onto an extra sweatshirt, closed-toed shoes and socks. Somehow, one set of everything (minus the closed-toes shoes for Kailani, because she somehow lost her Vans in the parking lot at the goat farm in Amsterdam. Don’t ask me how!) still ended up being a rather large box of stuff again. Yes, we’ve shipped out THREE boxes of stuff from the last THREE countries! We are hoping that we ACTUALLY make some type of dent in our luggage situation this time!! Ironically, we went to the IFC mall after. It’s located in the stock exchange building, the tallest building in the city. Again, it was sparkling clean and pristine with high end shops. Fortunately, we didn’t end up with more than a couple drinks (while Kailani napped), a cheap tank top for me and facial moisturizer for Sean from a place called the Organic Pharmacy, originating from the UK. Of course, I would have loved to buy up everything in that store, but resisted. I do see how Hong Kong has some really great retail as they seem to get stores selling from each side of the continent, Europe on one side and the US on the other side, as well as Asian stores. I hear even the American stores have things not available in the US. For dinner that night, we headed back Temple Street. We gave in and also picked up the movie, Horton Hears a Who. How can you beat the US $3 price tag?!?

Overall, the timing of our rescheduled plane ride seemed to work out well in the sense that we weren’t too jet lagged. There have been a few moments we’ve had to fight to put Kailani down to sleep at night, and we’ve had to wake her up in the morning (hence waking up too late for dim sum). But it’s definitely not as bad as when we arrived in Europe. I myself have been staying up late and waking up early. Maybe there’s some thing in the air in this city that never sleeps. But, I’m sure that won’t last. I’ve heard going west to east is “supposed” to be harder than going east to west. Overall, it doesn’t seem to be as hard as I expected. I’ve already had my share of mosquito bites. Luckily, not for Kailani. I’m crossing my fingers! I used to be allergic to them as a kid and would swell up real bad. I keep thinking how it’ll be worse the further “into” Asia we go, but we’ll see!

Our last day in Hong Kong, Mother’s Day, and the rain cleared up. I wanted to go to the Star Ferry Central Pier for their organic farmer’s market, hoping to find some fresh organic fruits to munch on for breakfast. We encountered the STRANGEST thing on the way there. We walked under one of Hong Kong’s above-ground walkways and heard the sound of packaging tape ripping off the roll like you’ve never heard it spun before. Tere were about a hundred or so Philippino women with very large boxes either packing or unpacking their boxes, or both. The boxes were so large, they were standing inside them to see what’s in them. To this day, we still don’t understand exactly what they were doing on the streets of Hong Kong. I was quite impressed that Hong Kong even HAD an organic farmer’s market. It was quite small, about 8 or so tables. But unfortunately, there was no fruit or anything else to eat without cooking, mostly vegetables and maybe some lettuce and tomatoes. It was still cool to see that they were doing something of that nature to help the planet. They also had signs explaining how to reduce CO2, the consumption of plastic bags and other environmental issues. There were a couple other free activity tables too. One had used paper to make origami and another rolled the paper into “straws” and weaved it into baskets, etc. Then, there was another table selling baking soda, biodegradable soap, beeswax and essential oils. Then, there was another table next to that where you could make your own lotion, lip balm, etc. with the beeswax and essential oils.

We headed back to the IFC mall, ate brunch at a “Western” restaurant. I do have to say that, even though we were in the People’s Republic of China, my ribs tasted pretty good. Then, we jumped on the bus to Ocean Park, a theme park. It was either that or Disneyland, “the happiest place on earth on a smaller scale, good for smaller kids” (as quoted by Leslie). In the end, we decided that we can also see Mickey Mouse in CA. But, Ocean Park had the panda bears, which I wanted to see, and we wouldn’t get that chance anywhere else. I do think it’s sad that they are in captivity. But in the end, the urge to see them won. The bus driver was horrible! Every time he started, the whole double decker bus jumped. He kept hitting the gas and letting go, like he didn’t know how to keep a steady pace. Ocean Park was a lot larger than I thought. It’s set on a hill, with attractions on both sides. We had to take 3 long flights of escalators to the top, then a cable car over and down the other side of the hill. The bears were soooo cute! I didn’t want to leave and wished we could give them a big hug (although I hear they are naturally aggressive)! I had to wake Kai from napping so she could see them, but I think lack of nap was worth it. Again, it was sad though, to see them in captivity. Although translucent and with ventilation, their “home” was covered with roof. It was clearly marked “no camera flash”, including attendants that held signs up. But still it was ignored. Everyone spoke very loudly. And, this is what they have to live with all day long. Still, I was grateful to be able to see the panda bears in person.

For dinner, we headed to Yung Kee, a Chinese institution that’s been there for decades. It is well known for it’s roasted goose, so that’s what we got, on top of another slew of dishes. Their food was excellent and their service was over the top. It felt like we had one waitress, with a very pleasant voice, just dedicated to us. Like in Venice, it’s amazing how a pleasant voice can really change your dining experience. Of course, we paid for it in the end. We were shocked to find that the bill was twice as much as what we expected, a whole steamed fish taking up half the bill. But, it was our last day in Hong Kong and definitely worth the experience.

On the way to the airport the next day, we “splurged”, paying US $4 for a taxi to the Kowloon MTR station instead of lugging our stuff down the street from one MTR train to the Airport Express train. We didn’t expect to find that they already had airline check-in desks at the Airport Express station. We weren’t even at the airport yet, but we could check-in our luggage before getting on the train. Now that’s service! The Airport Express train was fast, smooth and very plush. In a nutshell, it was even more impressive than London’s. Arriving at the airport with a little extra time, we had one last opportunity for dim sum lunch at Maxim’s. Luckily, the flight took off and was on time, except for the pilot saying we left a “couple minutes” late. Cathay Pacific even fed us a hot lunch for a mere 2 hour flight. Not that we were hungry, but I was surprised. We were shocked to find that the China earthquake, although thousands of miles from Hong Kong, must have hit minutes after our plane took off, and feel like we are being looked after.

Hong Kong

8 May 2008: In a nutshell, for the first two days in Hong Kong, we seemed to take a lot of showers basically with our clothes on. Because, they needed to be washed every time we wore them because we were sweating so much. What a contrast from always trying to find heat in Europe all spring! We also seemed to take almost every mode of transportation available (except a taxi): ferry, bus, tram, bus, ferry, MTR/underground/metro, gondola, bus and ferry. By the way, like in London, they don’t call their “underground/metro” a “subway”. A “subway” is an underground tunnel that you walk down into to get to the other side of the street without having to get run over. Here are the rest of the details:

I heard that Hong Kong was a 24 hour town, but apparently not true with the airport. Because our plane landed at 2am, public transportation was not operating at that hour. Finally, we found a bus that was going into town, and it was free. I thought the price was great. I didn’t find out until we were on it that it was actually as shuttle provided by the airline because of the hour that we landed. So, that made more sense. Going into town, the bus was to make several stops. I had no idea where our hotel was except it was on Nathan Road. But Nathan Road was apparently a really big road. Luckily, a couple from Hong Kong that we befriended at the hotel the night before pointed out that the bus was about to pass by our hotel. She spoke to the driver in Chinese for us, and got him to stop right there, instead of making us get off at the stop down the street, where we would have had to get a taxi back the other way. The guy at the reception desk at our hotel was surprised to see us checking-in at around 5am. (Yes, it took us almost 3 hours to get off the plane, get our luggage, go through immigration and get on the bus into town.) I thought the hotel’s web site boasted remodeled rooms and 43 inch plasma TVs. Our room had nice décor, but was slightly worn and no plasma TV. But, we were too tired to deal with it. And anyway, we weren’t there to watch TV. Originally, I wanted a room at the YMCA (apparently not just a gym in Hong Kong), which was right on the harbor. But, they didn’t have any rooms available. In retrospect, we are in a different neighborhood down the street, but it’s not bad. It’s only a 15-20 minute “window shopping” walk to get to the harbor. Nathan Road is a big busy shopping street, like being in Times Square, NYC, but on steroids. There are tons of people, traffic, diesel fuel fumes, and at night, signs are all lit up everywhere. But, our room is in the back of the building, so it’s quiet. Also, the Temple Street Night Market and it was only 2 blocks down. But, I digress…

After checking in, we took a nap, and then headed to grab something to eat for lunch. If you haven’t already guessed, my favorite food is dim sum. I suppose it’s comfort food. My mom, born and raised in Hong Kong, used to take me to dim sum in San Francisco as a child. So, being here is like seeing where half my genes are from, although no family live here anymore and it’s a completely different place than what it used to be, so I’ve heard. It’s too bad that Caitlin couldn’t join us here, especially since we’ll be here for Mother’s Day. (And everyone at school is apparently going home for the weekend, except her… L) But, she’s in California for a good purpose, educating herself in college. Anyway, we were still too tired to seek out the “best place”, but the hotel recommended a place across the street. After not having it so long, I was surprised when they placed the food on the table and Kai pointed to it and said “Dim Sum!” I didn’t think we ate it THAT much! Then, we walked down the street to the Star Ferry and took it into Central. It was complete culture shock walking down Nathan Road with a mass of people, traffic and smog, and we were already sweating from the heat just walking out from inside. We decided to take the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak for a view of the city. There’s supposed to be a bus that takes you to the tram, but somehow we couldn’t find it. Don’t ask me how we got so turned around because we had very good directions, compliments of my former colleague and now currently living in our old house, Leslie, who was raised here. (Thanks Leslie!) Eventually, we found some signs that pointed to the tram. But, I didn’t catch that it was to the tram, not the bus to the tram. We started walking that way. I try very hard not to look like a lost tourist, but I guess it didn’t help. Some guy stopped us and asked if we were looking for the tram. He said it was too far to walk and bus was a few blocks back. Mind you, “a few blocks back” was that much more sweat, so we were bummed we had to back track. He suggested that if we wanted a view, to go up the building that we were standing right in front of, the 70 story Bank of China Tower. The 42nd floor was open to the public. It was a great suggestion. After cooling down in air conditioning, watching the view, we headed back to the bus stop. We settled into our seats only to find the bus already stopping. Huh?!? I guess it wasn’t that far after all! Once on the tram, it was a really, really steep climb! This is the path that they used to CARRY people up in sedan chairs (and maybe rickshaws too?) in the olden days. We met Danny from BC, a rafting guide who was here coaching a hockey tournament. Of course, Sean heard the word “hockey” come out of his mouth and instantly befriended him. We chatted with him while marveling at the view for a while, and eventually ended up having a drink at the Lookout Café. Then, took a billion pictures looking down at the city during sunset, went back down the hill via tram and bus to Central, took the ferry across the harbor to Kowloon, snapped a bunch of pictures of the buildings all lit up and walked back to our hotel.

The next morning, we woke up late. I’m sure the flight caught up to us. But unfortunately, we missed Maxim’s at City Hall for dim sum and I was bummed. It’s supposed to be one of the best. (Again, thanks Leslie!) But, if you don’t arrive within a half hour of opening, the wait can be 1 ½ hours long. And, it was too late.

So instead, we jumped on the MTR (underground) for the first time. During the past two months in Europe, we’ve had our share of public transportation, especially trains, undergrounds, metros, etc., whatever you want to call them. We concluded that Italy had the slowest/sloppiest systems and Munich had what seemed to be the fastest and most efficient. In Munich, you could actually FEEL the underground train coming minutes before it came, by the wind blowing out the tunnel, because the air pressure between the tunnel and the train was so tight down there! At least to us, it seems to run parallel to how they engineer cars. Mind you, we own and LOVE our Audi! I also have two Vespas, neither of which are currently running. To get to the point, we’ve experienced our share of in Europe, and Hong Kong’s underground railway is even more impressive than Munich’s. It’s cleaner than anything we’ve seen thus far. They have DOORS to keep you from seeing/falling into the rails when trains aren’t there. Signs and maps are clear. (Being a former British colony, everything’s clearly marked in English and Chinese.) And overall, everything’s sparkling clean and very efficient. Aside from the street outside our hotel, which really isn’t THAT bad, Sean mentioned that Hong Kong doesn’t really feel like “the Asia” that he was expecting. Especially in central Hong Kong, he called it Disneyland. It seems like a great “gateway” into the rest of Asia that we’ll be seeing, except maybe Singapore, which seems to be the “real Disneyland of Asia”, so I’ve heard.

Anyway, we took the MTR to a new attraction which wasn’t here when I last visited Hong Kong, the Ngong Ping 360 cable car (called a “gondola” at ski resorts). It starts at Tung Chung, near the airport, and takes you to a neighboring island, Lantau Island, first with a view of the sea, and then the Hong Kong airport, where you marvel over this monstrosity built on a man-made island. As Sean mentioned, the city planners must have loved building this airport because they could shape it any way they want, rather than having to work with what they’ve got. Then, the rest of the ride is over completely undeveloped county park land. It’s such a peaceful contrast from what’s outside our hotel! It’s tropical, lush hills and valleys, and what we hope to find more of during the rest of our visit to Asia. Finally, it drops you off at Ngong Ping village, which has several cultural multi-media attractions that we didn’t participate in. I don’t remember this village being here last time I visited the area. And frankly, it appears to all have been built recently. Instead, we were starving. So, we had lunch at one of the restaurants, a Japanese noodle bar. The village is also right next an attraction that I had the chance to visit the last time I was here, but Sean and Kailani didn’t get to see, the Tian Tan Buddha Statue. It’s the largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha in the world and up a flight of stairs that consists of a whopping 260 steps. And although not ancient, maybe 10 years old(?), I still love seeing any Buddha. It’s also right next to the Po Lin monastery, which we visited after. From there, we took the bus down to the island’s ferry terminal, going past more public park and what looked like some awesome woodsy areas to picnic or camp at, and some beaches I wouldn’t mind spending some time at. It’s too bad that we don’t have more time to explore more of this island. On the ferry, we went back to our hotel, again right at sunset, and snapped off another set of pictures of the harbor all lit up at night.

As our new friend, Danny, and I were discussing the day before, it’s such a spectacular sight, but a shame to think of all the electricity it must use to light up this city (especially hearing of all the coal-burning power plants in China)! It’s also a shame to see all the shops on Nathan Road using air conditioning while having their store fronts open. But, neither Sean nor I expected Hong Kong (or Asia in general) to be too environmentally aware or health conscious, and are pleasantly surprised at certain things. First, we saved our recycling, hoping that we didn’t have to throw it away, something we also practiced in Europe. Fortunately, we found several recycling bins along Nathan Road to put paper, plastic bottles AND bags (very rare), cans and glass in. Although almost everywhere in Europe had recycling bins right on the street, Spain even had compost bins on the streets. Amsterdam of all places (which seems to have a very liberal attitude with everything else) seems to be worse than Hong Kong when it comes to finding recycle bins. Sean, former smoker, also seemed to notice warning signs everywhere about the effects of smoking, and that they smoke less here in Hong Kong than in Europe. Last, I have also found shops that sell organic food, although not anything fresh, except eggs, and they were right there at the MTR station. I’m happy to see that these issues really ARE global issues!

We arrived back in Kowloon that night and decided that we needed to eat. Sean was also willing to check out one of Hong Kong’s outdoor markets. As we found out from looking on the map, the Temple Street night market was only a couple blocks down from our hotel. So, that’s where we went. Again, I went there and ate dinner there during my last visit. All I remembered from last time was that I ate at some “hole-in-the-wall” that had rickety tables and chairs right on the street. But I didn’t get sick, so was willing to do it again. From where we started, there didn’t appear to be as many eating options as I remembered. So, we took the one of two places that we saw. It was a challenge for us to deal with Kai, wanting to eat things up off their sticky table, but we survived. We continued to stroll down the market, window-shopping, but not wanting to get anything that we’d have to lug in our already large pile of luggage that we were carrying around (half of our black suitcase which Sean calls “the pharmacy”). At the other end of the market, we came upon a rather large crowd of people eating. Hmm…OK, that’s where I must have eaten last time! Luckily, we didn’t eat that much at the first place, so we sat down for one more dish and a large beer. After, we strolled down the market again. But, we didn’t fall prey to Hong Kong’s famous ritual of buying consuming material goods that you don’t really need, at least not thus far. We only purchased what we consumed. I’m sure we’ll get at least a few things somewhere along the way though!

London Part 2

4 May 2008: It’s pretty pathetic, but we spent two nights and one day inside our airport Sheraton hotel room, only going downstairs occasionally to get some food. But, what can I say? It simply felt great to have such a big space (compared to the camper) and our own bathroom with a tub, so we relished in it. Kailani also picked up a cold on the flight, so we wanted to make sure she got rest. But, the saddest thing about it was that London was having unusually warm weather the entire time we were there. We spent half our time indoors and all those cold weather things that we were still lugging around were completely unnecessary.

At least, I was able to book a room at another place while at the Sheraton. So after day two, we ventured out of the building to central London via bus and “The Tube”, to Vancouver Studios. It wasn’t easy with so much luggage (that we keep vowing to scale down on), but we managed somehow. This is where I originally wanted to stay. I guess they were all booked for the weekend, but had a room for Monday and Tuesday, which were our last two days in London. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with Monday being a bank holiday or what. Vancouver Studios was situated in a neighborhood with almost all white, 4 storey buildings. We aren’t sure what type building they would call it, but we concluded it’s closest to “Colonial” style. There are so many of these buildings in the neighborhood that I would think someone could almost get lost if they didn’t pay attention. Inside Vancouver Studios, it kind of reminded me of a B&B, but each room has a small kitchenette, hence why I wanted to stay there. So, they don’t actually provide a breakfast. Although quite smaller than the Sheraton, our room was decorated very classic, but with a simple beige/white color scheme. The kitchenette and bathroom were both very modern. The bathroom had a cute raised-bowl sink and what they call, Power Shower, although barely big enough to squeeze in. They upgraded us to a room that also had a balcony that I never went out to, scared that Kai would follow me and fall off. Overall, it was cozy.

After moving from hotel to hotel, we started by having lunch at a local pub on a street called Queensway. Sean ordered sheperd’s pie, but they were out. So, he had fish and chips, and I had a falafel burger. Then, we decided to venture a couple tube stops over to South Kensington to check it out and grab dinner (and diapers…and an armful other things) at Whole Foods. We used to live and shop near the new Cupertino Whole Foods, the biggest on the West Coast. We also visited their corporate headquarters and flagship store in Austin. Then, at the beginning of this trip, we shopped at one in NYC. So why not see it in London too! Let me mention again, that the weather was wonderful and that I was wearing flip flops… :-) I must have been really sick of hotel food at that point, because our roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and salad tasted the best ever. And, sitting at the dining table in our room felt really cozy and homey too! I think that I could live there. Although, I’m sure the small space would get to me eventually.

The next day, we finally got out and saw London! We started by taking the Tube to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Unfortunately, there was such a huge crowd, I couldn’t see a thing. So, we went back to Victoria Station for a Cornish Pasty. Sean got traditional chicken and I got chicken curry. (Still thinking of the chicken curry empanada in Spain, but it wasn’t the same.) Then, we signed up for a one of those hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus tours. I thought it was supposed to completely loop within two hours, but it seemed reeeally long. But, at least we got to see everything. I caught Kailani’s cold at that point, so maybe it just seemed longer than it really was. We also made a couple pit stops, at Harrod’s for some gawking over expensive purses and their amazing food halls. And then, we headed to the London Eye for a ride. Again, it was great that the weather was on our side, because the view was spectacular while riding the London Eye. We concluded the day with picking up some “take away” Chinese food. I didn’t think that we’d be eating Chinese food until actually being in China, but the roasted meats in the window looked pretty good, and ended up tasting as good as it looked!

Our last day in London, we packed up, sent more stuff home at the Post Office, which coincidentally didn’t seem to help. We didn’t pick up anything new and had the same number of bags fully packed. Don’t ask me how! Anyway, we stowed our stuff and walked around the neighborhoods surrounding our studio until heading to the airport for an afternoon flight. I do have to say that I also enjoyed the location of our studio, right between the Bayswater District and Notting Hill. We had Queensway, a big shopping street with restaurants and where the Post Office was, right down the street from us. Then, we went to Portabello Road, where there’s an outdoor market. Then, we went to Westbourne Grove, another shopping/restaurant street where I found a market, Planet Organic, and got “one more thing for the road” (which we learned how that saying came about on our bus tour). I know. More things to lug! But, just some cough drops for me and cookies for Kai.

Going to the airport, we took the Airport Express train. I was shocked at the price of the tickets, but we were already at the station. When on the train, it was a very quick, smooth ride. There were a lot of business travelers on it and I can see how it is convenient for them. When we checked in, we were informed that our flight to Hong Kong was cancelled due to a power failure. I don’t know the statistics exactly, but it seems like at least 90% of the time this year, either our flight has been delayed or cancelled. This has never happened to me so often! At least, they told us right off the bat this time, as opposed to Hawaii during Christmas-time, where they made us wait 5 hours before sending us away. So, we went off to a hotel that was provided by Air New Zealand! We were a bit skeptical what Premier Inn was going to be like, but it ended up being a pleasant surprise. It was quite fresh and new-looking, we were greeted with hors d’oeuvres and wine, Kailani got a kid’s activity backpack, and there was even an indoor playground. We ate the complimentary Indian buffet dinner and slept early, since the airport shuttle picked us up at 6am the next morning. I almost felt like we were with a tour group. We met everyone on our flight that was staying there, ate with them, and were on the bus and airplane with them. After that, the flight took off as planned. Everyone on the plane was given a box of chocolates and the flight crew was very pleasant. Our original flight was to be an overnight flight, but now it was all day long. So I was worried that Kai would be bouncing off the walls. But, waking up so early, she took a long 4 hour nap. There was also a TV screen, remote and kid’s movies on every chair. So she was entertained with that. When we landed, we even got compliments from our neighbors about how quiet she was. And in a way, it was probably also good that we didn’t fly the day before, because I had another day to recover from my cold.

Pictures Posted

Now that I finally have a decent internet connection, I was able to post pictures in almost all the Europe blog entries. (But, not NYC...yet.) Yea! So, feel free to cruise through the past entries to see them. Enjoy!

PS - Please keep those comments and suggestions coming! We love getting them! :-)

Amsterdam to London

1 May 2008: It was the day before we were to leave Amsterdam and the continent of Europe. We decided to check out of the campground we were staying at, Gaasper, get more goat milk (Kai drank it up fast) plus the AWESOME pistachio ice cream and check in at the campground we stayed at when we first arrived in Amsterdam 2 months ago, Zeeburg. We needed to return the camper in the morning and it was closer to the center of town, where B&W Campers is. We also know the route to get there. Unfortunately, Zeeburg didn’t have any openings. I suppose I should have expected this as this WAS the big holiday weekend. But, I thought I saw people “moving out” that morning at our current campground. Oh well! Fortunately, there was a sign pointing to another place right down the street. “Down the street” was a bit further than expected. Signs took us right outside the city to the countryside (lots of grass, goats, sheep, etc.) and right next to the bay coastline. We went past a long, little town with one street that was pretty much a one-lane street, even though traffic went both ways. They had the cutest TINY little cottage style homes lined up there! Just after that, we found the campground. It was not more than a mobile home park, at least right on the water, with a small lot for campers, mosquitoes flying around, dingy bathrooms and no laundry facilities or internet access, both of which I was planning on doing that day. We made the best of it and finalized our packing, dirty clothes and all. Like always, we had so much stuff that it would barely fit in our bags, but we stuffed them in there well. And STILL, we didn’t have any reservations for London…and it was a bit nerve-wracking in the back of my mind. Returning the camper the next morning was uneventful, except all the jokes about all our luggage, from both us and Rene at B&W. At least, with all our stuff, we got to the airport on the train. From there, we bought a new duffel bag, repacked everything and got online to see about London hotels. JUST as I was finding stuff, my time expired and it was time to get to the gate. Then, we found out that our flight was delayed by an hour. So, I tried to get back online, but couldn’t connect at the gate, nor would my computer cooperate with me (dead battery, kept wanting to install updates). After we landed in London, we were actually questioned through immigration. The lesson to be learned is to ALWAYS put down a place where you will be staying when filling out those immigration forms…and don’t tell them you don’t have a job! And, I thought they really never read that. Oops! So, after fumbling a bit, I finally told the guy that we are “Property Managers” and (a tiny fib) were going to stay at the Marriott, that we knew they had rooms available but I was just unable to go online to book the room. He let us through. We proceeded to the Hotel Reservation desk at the airport. The guy there had just as much trouble finding a room for us in Central London as we did. After 25-30 calls, I finally told him I’d settle for an airport hotel. It was getting late and at least the commute to an airport hotel would be shorter. I also figured, if we have to stay at an airport hotel, we might as well stay at somewhere nice. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve LOVED staying in our camper for the past two months. It’s been great to have the same place/bed to call “home”, a toilet if you need it, a fridge to keep food cold and the ability to cook what you want. But, we were also looking forward to having “our own” bathroom, one that you don’t have to walk outside to get to and a shower you don’t have to wear flip flops in. Once at the Sheraton, we laughed at the fact that we no longer have to walk sideways or duck our heads below the bunk anymore. (Not that we couldn’t fold the bunk away everyday, but it takes effort.) We ended ordering a feast from room service, took showers, Kai played in the bathtub and flopped down into a heavenly king sized bed for the night. It’s been a pleasant change, but we also need to leave. I was willing to pay more for a nice room, but our wallets are also getting thinner with the food and handy internet access right in our room. At least, I’m finally able to stay online with a reliable connection, book a room for the last two days of our four days here and update the blog with pictures. (Yea!) And, Sean’s catching up with the news and the Sharks on TV. But, we need to leave the building to see London!