Category Archives: Travel

Hong Kong – Day 2

22 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China

Up quite early and read until about dawn, then headed to Macau. No, not the former Portuguese island colony (maybe later in the trip), but an eatery just up from my hotel. Had some decent egg tarts and a toasted bun with butter and sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. The later was a little sweet for my taste, but the breakfast satisfied. Oh, and coffee with cream (or at least milk). Oy.

On the way to the waterfront I passed an excellent looking breakfast buffet at a hotel. Tomorrow. For sure.

My plan was to work my way through museums along the waterfront but once I saw the view of Hong Kong Island from near the Star Ferry building I nearly changed plans and jumped a ferry for Hong Kong proper. “Stunning” doesn’t even begin to be adequate. Too hazy for photography, but 120 degree panorama of massive skyscrapers. Simply beautiful. Awe-inspiring.

I moved on, but both the Space Museum and Science Museum were not yet open, so took a long walk to the Hong Kong History Museum. I was confused about where to pay before learning it was free. The main floor had a nice exhibit of wood carving, much of it gilded. Beautiful stuff, very nicely displayed.

There was a massive permanent exhibition downstairs covering everything from the natural history of the area, the flora and fauna before the area was settled, early peoples and their ways of life, then various periods of civilization leading up to fairly modern times. It was huge and very well done. I spent over three our there.

Incredible carving, from a solid pice of wood, and gilded in leaf foil

Next on my list for the day was claypot rice for lunch. This is a traditional dish where rice is placed in a clay pot covered with various vegetables and/or meats, then baked with a lid so that the rice gets a little crispy on the bottom. A long hike back to Nathan Road where I caught to superb MTR subway to Yau Ma Tei. Some difficulty with Google Maps on my phone as the tall building sometimes block GPS signal, but finally found the place I was looking for. Closed. Ah, but I had a backup claypot spot in mind and it was nearby. Always prepared, that’s me!  Also closed. Claypot fail!

A most curious business model

It was after 1 p.m., I was hungry, and tired, so took the MTR back to iSquare, the massive multistory shopping mall across the street from my hotel and ate at an overpriced Italian place. Still, a good pizza and a couple of San Miguels were just the ticket on a muggy day. Back to the room to rest and read.

I was thinking about heading out again about 6:30, but almost didn’t. Still tired and not very hungry, I thought about staying in. Finally headed out and found a funky area five minutes about that has a sort of youthful hipster vibe (making me out of place there entirely, but so it goes.)

I ate at Ebenezer’s. Ebenezer himself greeted me at the door. Ebenezer has somewhat multicultural (and Halal) food. The chicken tikka pita was good, though the chicken was not cooked Tandoori style. If you go to Ebenezer’s and order spicy, be prepared for spicy. Not outside my comfort zone, but certainly on the leading edge.

From kebab to pizza to Indian to “Cambell’s Soup of the Day” Ebenezer’s got you covered

There was a tap room on the walk back that promised local beer. Craft brewing is a relatively new phenomenon here but seems to really be taking off. The Back Kite Goden Ale was pretty good and the pop music decidedly western.

Beer selection at the Kowloon Taproom

If you look closely, you can see a sign for  Yardly Brothers Llama Island IPA.  “None of the watery shite.”

 

Headed the Central tomorrow on the island of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong – Day 1

21 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China

So I rolled the dice and flew United to Hong Kong.  Most everyone I know shares my opinion that United sucks and is to be avoided, but they have direct flights from GEG to SFO which makes them a seemingly good choice for connections to Asia.  Otherwise it’s Delta or Alaska to SEA, then usually another connecting flight somewhere in Asia.  Flying United is a little like a game of Russian Roulette.  The best you can hope for is for it not to end in disaster.

That said, the Economy+ flights to Hong Kong did not absolutely suck.  The 18” wide seats would probably have sucked but I had the isle on one side and an inexplicably empty seat on the other.  Food was mediocre at best.  Still, a 15-hour flight is an endurance event in any class seat.

I had a little trouble finding my dive hotel.  The reviews online said it was within a few hundred feet of the Tsim Sha Tsui Station.  But that’s the local Tsim Sha Tsui station, not the airport train Tsim Sha Tsui station.  Still a very friendly guy at the latter guided me to the former.  Then a small bit of wandering around on surprisingly crowded streets for 9:30 at night on a weekday, I found the tiny door that serves, among other things, InnSight Hotel.  Notice the prominent signage.

Extraordinarily friendly staff led me to the smallest room I’ve ever stayed in.  Microscopic.  About sixty square feet.  The entire bathroom is just barely bigger than a standard tub.  The toilet is in the shower.  I had thought to pack hangers, knowing this was a cheap place, but needn’t have bothered – there is no place to hang anything.  There is but a single outlet in the whole room.

This was not all entirely unexpected, however.  I wanted to stay on the very southern end of Kowloon and this area, Tsim Sha Tsui, is extremely convenient.  And expensive.  What we would consider nice hotels run $300/night and up.  This room was $67.  It is clean, the bed is comfortable enough, and the staff is very accommodating and helpful.

Sleep the first night was, as it had been on the plane, illusory.  Thin walls and noisy neighbors.  I got to thinking there might be actual advantages to a $300/night room.

Before I get to the part of wandering about looking for breakfast, I should mention the shower.  There is a switch near the door to turn on power to the German-made electric water heater.  I turned it on shortly before shaving and it seemed to quickly provide adequate hot water for that purpose.  I then (still standing at the sink and 12” from the toilet), turned on the shower itself.  While at first this worked fine, I quickly became aware that in this place one must strike a balance between heat and flow with the water.  Maybe I just need to be more conservative with flow with this tiny heater, or maybe I need to turn it on 15 minutes early.  Experimentation is in the future.  Blog post updates can be expected.

One of the breakfast options I had read about was the Australian Dairy Company, a place that has a reputation for good food and downright surly service.  Think Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi, only in a Kowloon Breakfast theme.  But there was a closer place that intrigued so I headed out at 7 a.m. to search for it.  Never found it.  Had a nice walk around 1881 Heritage House, though, which was kind of historic.  At least they made it seem that way.  From the outdoor signage, it appears historic things happened there at some point in time.  Not unpleasant anyway, and zero crowds on nice 70 degree morning.

Gun at 1881 Heritage House that sounded at noon at a time keeper for fisherman

One hopes they don’t currently fire live rounds

So I walked on, rambling around in any direction, and came across a tiny door behind which was an indoor vegetable market with a sign promising hot food area. I didn’t find any hot food, and even the cold food seemed questionable.

Not Breakfast

Other signage made me decide to skip the place altogether.

Not even a good location to find breakfast

Shortly thereafter I found a small cafe with pictures in the window that promised something breakfast-like and another key quality – they were open.  So I dove in.  Communication with the server was challenging, but I think I ordered a plate that included scrambled eggs, sausage and coffee.  Service was prompt and indeed I got about what I thought I had ordered.  The coffee had cream, though.  Why do non-Americans always automatically put cream in coffee?  Oh, and the scrambled egg (singular) ended up having little strips of a gelatinous substance that at first appeared to be onion (nice touch!), but turned out to be of an ocean provenance.  Who the hell puts fish in eggs???  

I was amused, however, to find Tobasco.  Everything tastes better with Tobasco.  And, in the end, in very expensive Kowloon, breakfast was only HK$40, which is under six bucks.  The day shift dude at the hotel desk has recommended a better place for tomorrow, otherwise I might try one of the pricey breakfast buffets at the many nearby high-end hotels.

On the way back to the room to take care of business, I passed this place half a block away.  I kicked myself for the missed breakfast opportunity.  It’s a little hard to read, but at this one convenient location you can get “spicy fish balls,” “fried intestines,” “fish balls with noodles,” and, my personal favorite, “Leaks, Pig Blood, and Curds with Intestines!”  I’ve simply gotta go back later!

Lots of icky things

I wandered north and ran into Kowloon Park, a remarkable oasis of peacefulness smack in the middle of bustling city.

Kowloon Park

Adjacent to it I found the very nice Hong Heritage Discovery Center.  It has a wonderfully well-conserved collection of antiquities with interesting display covering neolithic to modern Hong  History.  It is humbling to an American to see hand-made items possibly 4,000 years old.

Neolithic era pot.

The park and Discovery Center had taken up most of the morning and, after an okay Vietnamese lunch, I returned to the room at address lingering jet lag.

I headed out about sundown to find the Temple Street Night Market.  Note to self:  Before asking a local for directions, make sure that local can understand the question.  After much walking I found the market which, while colorful and interesting, held nothing I wanted to buy.  Mostly there for tourists, the ratio of gringo to Asian faces grew the closer I got to it.  Kowloon is a cool place to walk around at night, though.

After more merely okay Vietnamese food for dinner and a quick visit to a local market, I repaired to my luxury digs for the night.  I have one more day of somewhat mindless walking around before I start to look for the bigger attractions.

A shop that sells nothing but dried fish.

Nathan Road, the main north-south road through southern Kowloon

The Road to Retirement – Final Day (MT & WA)

August 8th, 2018
Spokane, WA

No roadside fun this day. I uncharacteristically sleepy almost eight hours and got a late start. The $2 off coupon breakfast at the Holiday Inn did not intrigue, so I set off in search of…I…um… Okay, certain parties have used my affection for Panera to accuse me of being under the influence of Big Breakfast. It’s just not true! I can quit anytime I want, but a cross country road trip is no time to address one’s addictive nature.

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The Road to Retirement – Day 5 (ND & MT)

August 7th, 2018
Missoula, MT

Little to report this long ten-hour day of driving. As the spaces get more wide open on the high plains, the curious roadside attractions get fewer and farther between. The Ramada I stayed at in Dickinson was a big place that was set up as a convention center. They had a sit-down restaurant where there was supposed to be a free hot breakfast. Well, “hot” was a generous term this measly buffet. Unless you are happy with standard poor motel breakfast, eat out if you ever stay at the Dickinson Ramada.

I was on the road by 6:30 a.m., however, and the first stop was just 100 miles down the road in Glendive. Glendive is a nice small place surrounded by attractive buttes. One of the things I missed about the west is elevation. Not absolute elevation, but relative elevation. Things jutting up in the air, sometimes dramatically. Everything in the east just seems so flat. Not so in Montana. At a very pleasant tiny park I found my goal: Glendasaurus, a 1997 stature of a triceratops.

Glendisaurus, Glendive, MT

The next, and last, roadside curiosity of the entire trip was near Miles City, MT.  The location given was a little sketchy, so I started keeping my eyes open (no more naps!) about ten miles out.  I needn’t have worried.    Driving westbound on I-90 it is simple impossible to miss Creepy Crawler, a giant baby crawling after a life-sized buffalo, rhino, and velociraptor.  What’s was the point?  None whatsoever.  That’s what’s great about some of these things – there just isn’t any point to them at all.  It just doesn’t get much weirder than that, so a fitting end to my trip’s roadside attractions.

Creepy Crawler, near Miles City, MT

I had lunch in Billings at the Montana Brewing Company.  I recognized the logo as I have been there before.  The Amber Stout was good, but the smoked beef brisket sangie was simply rockin’!  Damn.

On this the fifth consecutive day of driving all day long I was starting to get horse-to-barn syndrome.  My original plan had called for staying in Livingston, MT.  But that seemed like a wimpy day, so I had decided the previous night to press on to Butte.  Getting such an early start and having few oddities to chase down this day, It would have only been about 3 p.m. if I stopped in Butte, so decided to drive through to Missoula.  Missoula being only 200 miles from Spokane, I briefly toyed with just pressing all the way through, but it was 5:30 when I got to Missoula and I had been driving for ten hours, so I called it quits.

I’ve stayed in Missoula before.  Twenty-one years ago, Mike and I went on a week long camping trip in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.  We tried mostly to camp, but also to find campgrounds that allowed for easy access to a good place to eat dinner and, ideally, a brewpub.  I guess I haven’t changed that much since my mid-thirties, except that now I prefer motels.  (Particularly snarky persons might point out that my hair had very little gray back then, something that most definitely has changed, but such persons should keep their comments to themselves.)  The camping  trip was a blast, but Missoula impressed as a very otherworldly place.  Everything about it seemed a little odd.  

In 1997, we had a beer in a dive bar called The Rhinoceros (motto “Dip In and Get Your Horn Wet.”)  Sitting next to me was a highly odiferous young guy who kind of rocked back and forth grabbing his crotch as if he had both physical and emotional crabs.  Sitting next to Mike was a chatty Indian smoking an upside-down pipe who referred to Mike as “Shotgun.”  And this bar was not out of place in Missoula.  Before going back to the campground we watched a movie just out in the theaters, Men in Black.  The idea that maybe aliens lived among us in human form seemed to explain a lot about Missoula.

The Rhinoceros, Missoula, MT

And it really isn’t much different now.  It’s a very pretty place, but still has that somewhat otherworldly feel to it.  It is a college town, but seems to have a bit of a Berkeley vibe.  As I got in late and had little choice, I stayed in an expensive but very nice Holiday Inn right downtown.  There was a storefront Peace Center a short walk away.  Granted it was hot, but numerous young guys were walking around shirtless.  Except the guy in the hoodie, hood up, on a 94-degree evening.  If only I could have listened to the Revolution Gospel Hour on KPFA, I would have sworn I was walking down Telegraph Avenue near UCB in the 1980s.  Granted, my impression of the place is a based entirely on the area near the campus, so perhaps a bit skewed. 

While the Rhinoceros still remains, I’m sorry to report that a quick check on the Internet reveals the iconic Bison Brewery (“Transferring Power to Man”) in Berkeley has closed.  The beer was crap, but the place was certainly something to be experienced.

And of course seeing the Rhinoceros brought back memories of that 1997 camping trip.  On the last night of which, on the Fourth of July in Twin Falls, Mike and I placed folding chairs in a small park near the motel and prepared to watch fireworks.  Mike, who I now know cannot be trusted with any form of pyrotechnic device, lit some large sparklers and waved them over me, ignore my cries of pain as they burned my legs.  He laughed at my cries of pain and I do believe actually enjoyed seeing me burnt.  Later the legs actually got small blisters.  To this day I cannot view fireworks without phantom pain in my legs.  The physical wounds have healed over time, but the emotional scars remain.

But back to Missoula.  A Wakeboard Wit at the Tamarack Brewing Company was light and refreshing.  Recommended.  Dinner at Ciao Mambo was uninspiring and lacking in flavor.  I should have eaten at Tamarack, instead.

Tomorrow on to Spokane, my new home.

The Road To Retirement – Day 1 (NY, PA, & OH)

August 3rd, 2018
Cleveland, OH

Technically, I suppose, this is Day 2, but August 2nd was simply a quick dash south to Liverpool, so I’m not counting that. Plus, being a longtime UNIX geek and former C programmer, I like to start counting at zero.

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