Catching up... again.

Sitting on our 13-hour flight, I leaned over to ask Patty where she left off in the blog and got the response: “I didn’t write much about Tokyo at all.” So with that, I guess it is my job to fill you in on our last two days in Tokyo and just about wrap this baby up. Blogging is hard.

Jump back to Wednesday afternoon.

We arrived back in Tokyo after taking the bullet train from Kyoto. Having done the whole luggage on the subway thing many times this trip, we decided to pony up for a taxi to take us to our hotel this one last time. Traveling is great… but traveling with two heavy suitcases, a backpack, a laptop case, a purse, a suit bag, and a few small bags of snacks, all while trying to figure out the subway (see Patty’s prior post) and at the same time dig in your pockets for subway fare… ain’t.

Ahh… the sweet, sweet sight of the Celestine Hotel… we made it to the lobby of our final accommodations for our trip, and we couldn’t have chosen a finer place. Alas, a bed awaited us… not just any bed, but a great big, fluffy, comfy bed. If you think we’re exaggerating, go sleep on your kitchen floor for two nights and rest your head on a frying pan.

Anyway… with Internet access again, I finally had the chance to post our Kyoto pictures.

After a short nap, Patty and I checked our trusty Time Out Tokyo book and decided to head out to the lively night time neighborhoods of Shinjuku and Shibuya.

Having noticed a bit of rain outside, we dug out our pocket umbrellas and made our way. On the way out of the hotel, the wonderful reception staff at the Celestine offered us some umbrellas to use… Patty and I looked at each other, presented our own umbrellas and, in unison, exclaimed, “We’re from New York,” to which they got a great chuckle.

And so we braved the evening commuter rush – Shinjuku is the place you hear about where they actually employ people to stuff everyone into the subway cars. Something like 8 gazillion people pass through that station every day. It’s true. I read it somewhere.

Shinjuku is really bright and really busy.


**Man, I really wonder what this city’s electric bill is. There isn’t a building in sight without a neon sign, flashing lights, or a giant TV plastered on it.

Having no real dinner plans, we wandered around Shinjuku for a while in search of a Pizza Hut. While KFCs, Mickey Ds, and Wendy’s are everywhere, there wasn’t a single dine-in Pizza hut to be found in Tokyo (again, see Patty’s prior post).

Having walked by literally hundreds of restaurants and not making a decision on where to eat, and since the light drizzle started to get a little heavier, we ducked into a little Italian café for a quick bite and a bit of regrouping. After a bit of bruschetta and a beverage, we headed back out for some more photos and to search for a more suitable eating establishment. Having accomplished only the former – not to mention a brief walk through the seedier section of Shinjuku - we chose to move on to Shibuya.

**Shibuya at night appeared quite similar to Shinjuku… bright lights, lots of restaurants, a seedy section… and no damn Pizza Hut! Well, we did manage to have an Italian dinner at a restaurant in a large shopping plaza. Apparently this is pretty common in Tokyo, and so all of the restaurants were pretty full. After a short wait, we were finally eating.

Note: Somewhere around 7pm we realized we skipped lunch. It was probably around 9:30 by the time we finally ate.

After dinner, we were both thoroughly exhausted and so we trained it back to the hotel, collapsed into that wonderful bed and called it a night.

The last day and more photos coming soon!

Where are you when we need you???

Tonight we found this weird little restaurant from the guidebook and promptly turned around and exited once we arrived. It advertised a Japanese experience with games. It was in a small basement room with four mats on the floor and was empty. Here is the link, to understand more about it:
http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~kagayayy/

We saw McDonald's everywhere, and KFC, a Denny's, even an Outback, but nary a Pizza Hut to be found. I did a little research - it apparently is here, and with this incredible looking "sausage roll" crust:





After finding that the restaurant from the guidebook wasn't what we expected, we wandered around Ginza, looking at plastic food models and picture menus before finally hitting a place called Fujiya, which was like a Japanese Denny's, with Japanese comfort food and ice cream desserts (maybe more like a Friendly's). It was perfect.

Bryan's photography skills are rivalling Nancy's these days, and I'll let him post some Tokyo at night pictures of the city's vertical signage on all the buildings that makes the city look like Times Square times ten. Tonight, I'll enjoy our last night of hotel sleep, and hopefully all the Buddha statues I rubbed today will somehow send me the knowledge overnight on where we can get a sausage roll crust for lunch before boarding our 13-hour flight home.

Ridin' that Train

Hong Kong's subway map:


Tokyo's subway map:


Now, I may have grown up in a small town, but after five years in the Big Apple and a short six-month stint in London, I kind of fancy myself a city girl these days. I'd like to think that I can manage any city's public trans system with the greatest of ease. Now, we haven't gotten lost or anything, but getting around here is definitely challenging. For one, NY's MetroCard can get you on any subway line and you can switch at any time. Well, here there are three different companies that run the different lines, and they all take different tickets. So our Suica card only works on certain lines, and for a different subway we have to get tickets from different machines. As I said, we've managed, but it is a little more stressful. Hong Kong had an awesome subway system, and it was surprisingly cheap - most routes were less than a buck.

Today we spent the day at Asakusa. We've found with most Japanese words, whichever syllable you want to accent, choose a different one. There was another temple there and a lot more souvenir stands. So today wasn't really all that exciting, but we did have a nice little lunch. Bry had sushi and I had unagi (eel) and rice. Now we're heading to Ginza to wander around and find a spot for dinner. I've picked a kooky spot that could either be a place that's a bad experience that makes for a good story, or it could actually be fun. We're going to check it out, and if it looks too cheesy, move on. We have yet to find Tokyo's Pizza Hut.

Memoirs of a Geisha Gawker

Arriving in Kyoto yesterday, it felt not as if we are visiting another country, but as if we've entered a new world. I can easily say that Kyoto is officially the most amazing place I've ever visited in my life.

My only prerequisite for which ryokan we stayed at was that it had an Internet site. I got a little scared a few days before we arrived, when I Googled it to find the location, and I got this message: "We are sorry. It closes for a while." I emailed them to find that, luckily, it was just the website that was "closed."

Kyoto has many busy thoroughfares, but behind them are quiet, narrow streets where you have to be careful not to get hit by a bicycle. Our ryokan was tucked away on one such street. I will say that one of these inns may seem a bit more charming if you don't spend the previous night in a king-sized bed, but we still managed to sleep more here than we have anywhere else yet on this trip (after our in-room breakfast feast, we slept in til 11.) At night the streets are illuminated by paper lanterns, and the Japanese writing beautifully accents the lamps and cloth that hang in most doorways.

Yesterday we left our hotel around noon and commenced walking... and walking. In fact, we arrived back at our hotel last night at 9 p.m. We walked solidly from noon to 6:30 before we stopped for dinner. We spent the day temple and park hopping. Our first stop was at the Kiyomisu-dera temple, which apparently is petitioning to become one of the new wonders of the world, and I do believe it should be. First off, we are so fortunate to be here while the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. The trees dot the landscape everywhere you look. We spent a good few hours wandering around the grounds, going up and down stone paths and stairways. We spotted a few Geisha, who were literally swarmed by tourists acting as paparazzi. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. They still managed to keep a demure composure and smiled slightly and bowed each time.

One of the funniest experiences we had, I spotted a Geisha walking on a side street with a young white guy, so I nudged Bryan to get a shot of her. She leaned in in a more spunky, less demure way and smiled big for the camera and then said in the most American accent "Can you like take one with our camera now?" Apparently she paid to get all dressed up. They were from Hawaii. One of the reasons we feel so far away is also the lack of American tourists. On a nine-hour walk yesterday, I heard just four Americans. It adds to the feeling of being more removed, though, and I have to say I kind of dig it.


We've been forced to stick with menus with pictures of food, since most menus don't have any English on them, which makes every meal an adventure. One of the best treats I had, after the temples and the parks, was a little stand on Shijo-dori selling Takosen. It looked similar to a taco, so I figured I couldn't go wrong at least trying it. It also had an adorable handwritten sign next to it that read "Very Derisious." The "shell" was more of a prawn cracker/communion host type consistency, with some more crunchy white bits inside, and what I gather was a fried octopus pattie with some crunchy green bits and a white sauce and a brown sauce. For 300 yen (less than three bucks), it totally ruled.


Later on our walk we decided to stop at this restaurant which had one thing on the menu, okonomiyaki, which is dubbed a Japanese version of pizza. You walk in and hold up a finger or two letting them know how many you want. Bryan and I each had one, which was really more than I needed. This "pizza" consisted of a folded pancake with tiny shrimps, raw egg, green stuff and white stuff. I did manage to eat half of it, though I wouldn't describe myself as satisfied when we finished. We promptly hit another cafe on the walk home for coffee and dessert before stopping at a few more shops hidden in this shopping arcade near our hotel. We have more than earned our trip to a Tokyo Pizza Hut, if one exists. We rolled onto our floor mats and got a good night's sleep before getting back on the bullet train to Tokyo and arriving at our much fancier Japanese hotel, complete with king-sized bed and in-room Internet access. It is here we will spend our last two nights in Tokyo before heading back to NY.

Walking… walking… and more walking...

Ohhhh…. My back! I woke up Wednesday morning with a stiff neck and a sore back. It’s so much harder to get out of bed when you’re lying on the floor than it is when you get out of a bed that’s three feet off the floor… go figure. After a few solid minutes of struggling to get up, I managed to get to my feet only to be instructed to sit on my knees for breakfast. Our room maiden (I guess that’s what you’d call her) this sweet Japanese mother-type brought in our breakfast and set it up for us on our extremely low tables.

Our breakfast was a traditional Japanese-style meal which included a few more things that I didn’t really know I was eating. I did recognize the white rice and dried salmon, and a little tofu and miso soup, but the rest was an enigma. Oh, they were nice enough to give us another raw egg… what’s the deal with raw freakin’ eggs?? They put them on EVERYTHING!

I somehow managed to eat just about everything that was served to me, while Patty hardly touched hers. After breakfast, we got ourselves ready and headed out for our walk to some ancient temples in the area of southern Higashiyama.

A couple of blocks past our ryokan was a small temple which we almost didn't even notice. We entered the area to explore and found a hidden treasure.

It was neat to see this temple reflecting off of the modern buildings surrounding it.


There was a curved row of Buddha statues that made for some great photos…

A schoolgirl reading...

We continued our walk towards Kyoto Station where it was our intent to catch a bus to the beginning of our planned walk. About 25 minutes into our walk, I decided to look at the map and realized we were only halfway there. I then made the brilliant decision to cut out the subway and bus ride in order to walk more towards our destination. Well, it wasn’t the smartest decision I ever made, and my legs will remind me of that for days to come.

We arrived at the beginning point of our walk, had a drink and a piece of cake, and started our tour…

Konnichiwa Kyoto!

Patty and I awoke early Monday morning to begin our journey to Kyoto. We packed our bags and headed to Shinigawa train station on the free hotel shuttle. Upon arrival, we were immediately confounded by the machine with which to purchase our tickets. After several botched attempts, a kind woman graciously walked us through the process, albeit in Japanese, and we finally successfully completed the transaction.

Arigato, train ticket helper lady!

We boarded our bullet train to Kyoto and awaited our arrival -- it actually does look like a bullet! Sorry, no photo.

Upon arrival in Kyoto, we managed to find our way to the subway which took us closer to our lodging for the next two nights, a quaint ryokan located in the heart of downtown Kyoto. After some fumbling with an indecipherable map, Patty and I opted for a taxi to take us to the Hotel Kohro.

Since we couldn’t check in until 3:00, we left our bags at the hotel and headed to the Nishiki market. This wonderful market sits underneath the tracks of an elevated train and houses all sorts of crafts shops, fish markets, and a variety of edibles and curiosities...

Did I mention all the bait Bobby can eat?!?

How about some sashimi on a stick?


After a stroll through the market, Patty and I had a wonderful lunch and headed back to see if our room was ready. Sure enough, it was. As expected, it was a simple room consisting of two small tables, two small chairs and an even smaller table. It did happen to have a tv and a minibar… but no bed?!? Okay, we knew what we were in for when we booked the room, basically we were to be sleeping on thin cushiony mats on the floor. Patty got a good laugh when I described the pillows as “soft as a rock.”

While it wasn’t the most comfortable setting, it was peaceful and definitely worth the experience.

We decided on the suggested night walk from our trusty Lonely Planet book and began our journey into Kyoto after dark. Our walk took us through the open shopping market at Kawaramachi and towards the dimly-lit Pontocho.

On our way we encountered a treat that we just had to try… a completely new drum game! This one was more like those huge Japanese drums that you bang on with giant sticks. Patty and I spent a few hundred yen on this amusement before deciding to continue with our walk.



A narrow cobbled pedestrian street, Pontocho is home to many cafes, bars, and restaurants, packed away and tucked neatly into every inch of space available down its cramped alley as beautiful wooden facades and hanging lamps run along the path. These pictures hardly do this lane justice, but I think you’ll get the idea.



Here’s a look into one of the kitchens of one tiny restaurant in particular.


Rounding the corner and heading down Kiyamachi-dori led to a completely different environment consisting of nightclubs and hostess bars. With the night sky and the bright flashing lights of nearby establishments, I busted out my Joby Gorilla Pod and was able to capture a plethora of perfect pictures of the street-lit cherry blossom trees.

Here's one of my favorites.


We ate dinner at this little hidden restaurant in the basement of a corner building on Kiyamachi-dori and chose to order just by looking at the picture-menu. Our food arrived and we cautiously bit into each morsel, half savoring the flavor and half trying to figure out what the heck we were putting into our mouths.

Here’s the rundown of what we think we ate, some of which are pictured above:
Raw tuna and avocado plate – very tasty.
Chicken skewers – tasty.
Chicken hearts - chewy, not so tasty.
Octopus skewers - rubbery, flavorless.
Bacon-wrapped goo - the bacon helped, but the consistency of the goo freaked me out.
Spicy sausage on a stick – very tasty, very spicy.
Veggie pattie on a stick – pretty tasty.
Something meaty on the outside, crunchy in the middle… on a stick – not sure how I feel about that one.
Fried chicken meat patty with cheese and raw egg – surprisingly tasty!

After dinner, we ambled back to our little room, through the quiet streets of Kyoto, passing drunken salarymen and the random lady on a bicycle... and called it a night... but not before one last go at GIANT DRUM HERO!

Harajuku Girls

Although there wasn’t anything remarkable about our arrival and first evening in Tokyo, I managed to snap one of my favorite photos so far… This was taken in the lobby café of our hotel after a simple meal and some fantastic live jazzy music.

I figured I’d add a few more photos from our first full day in Tokyo. We started the day with a leisurely walk to Meguro train station for our first attempt at Japanese mass transit. After some initial confusion with a ticket machine, we figured we’d fare better (pun intended) by speaking with someone at the ticket information counter. After a handful of fumbled attempts at asking for a day pass, the kind clerk figured out what we were seeking and suggested the Suica card - a silver/green credit card adorned with a cartoon penguin.

Cards in hand, we headed towards Harajuku and the Meiji shrine.

Upon arrival at Harajuku station, we were met with throngs of people, mostly teens dressed in a variety of outfits ranging from punk rock to anime cartoon characters.
We ambled down Omotesando and peered into the coffee shops and clothing stores dotted along this main thoroughfare.



Realizing we had not had a sufficient breakfast -- Pocky and potato chips -- Patty and I settled on a simple/quick Italian express restaurant for a bit of sustenance.

After lunch, we headed towards the Meiji shrine which resides in Yoyogi Park on the western side of Harajuku Station. Just before the entrance to the park is a pedestrian bridge which allows for passage over the train tracks and this is where most of the costume-clad teeny boppers commingle and pose for gawkers and photographers. Although seemingly quite bizarre and as offputting as some of the costumes may be, these kids are more than happy to pose for pictures, and most of them generally greet you with a smile and a slight bow.

These girls love their stockings too...


more stockings...


We then headed for the park and some old-world temples.

After a short walk through a wide, tree-lined gravel path, we entered the bounds of the Meiji Shrine. A mixture of simple architecture with ornate detail, you really get the feeling you’re somewhere special. As we entered, we noticed a small gathering whose attention was focused on a vision in white. I think we stumbled upon a wedding ceremony…

Upon further exploration, we came upon an area dedicated to the prayers of visitors. Apparently if you write your wishes on a small wooden plaque and hang it with the others, a monk will actually pray for what you have written. There were plaques written in all different languages, and from the ones that I could read, the messages were just as varied.

I added one of my own.


Leaving the park, we passed by the Harajuku girls again…


We then took a stroll down Takeshita (read it slowly for maximum hilarity). Here’s a view down the alley, jam packed, shoulder to shoulder. See if you can spot yours truly. Click the picture to see it larger.

Takeshita street is lined with clothing shops to fuel the trends of the young Japanese and is definitely worth a look if you’re in Tokyo.

Patty has already written about our wonderful authentic sushi dinner, and so I will simply add that it was a great finish to our first full day in Japan. And to Chris and Emi and their son Sean: Domo arigato gozaimas!

Tokyo, Day 1

We covered so much ground today and took so many great photographs, I know I won't be able to cover it all in one post. Words won't do it justice. Hopefully Bryan will get a chance to post some photos tomorrow before we head to Kyoto, because we are staying in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, so our access to Internet might be limited in the next two days.
We dove head first into Japan's vast railway system this morning and stuck to the easy, circular Yamanote line, which took us to Harajuku, which Gwen Stefani has been pronouncing wrong in all of her songs (har-AH-ju-ku). Sunday is the day when all the goth kids dress up in costumes and hang out on the bridge entrance to the Meiji shrine. It is kind of a strange thing to witness, in that these teenage girls dress up in French maid outfits or Little Bo Peep type getup, and pose for strangers taking photos. Some just stick to the punk/goth look, but they still manage to hold on to a child-like innocence, as many of them are clutching some sort of stuffed animal.
The streets in the surrounding area are insanely crowded, but once you enter the path to the Meiji shrine, while there are still tourists about, the atmosphere changes to a very serene one. The contrast is so stark, it's amazing.

We were also lucky enough to witness a wedding or two; or at least we think we did. There were a few couples where the woman was decked out in white kimono with traditional face paint. One even had a fairly elaborate headpiece on. We also saw a couple where the woman was wearing a red kimono with bits of gold, though we don't know if she was with the one couple we thought were getting married or what the deal was. We just stood with the onlookers taking pictures.



After milling around the packed streets and crazy shops of Harajuku for a few hours, we hopped on another train to Yokohama to visit my Uncle Pat's brother Chris and his family. Chris has been living here steadily since '95, so it was a treat to spend time with him and his wife, Emiko, and his son, Sean. We got there and took a long walk past a rugby tournament, through a park with cherry blossoms in full effect and stopped at his house before they took us for a fabulous sushi meal. The place was very small - just a counter, and we were the only customers there. We got a full set and we tried everything - even these little minnow guys who were staring helplessly back at me before I popped them into my mouth. We rolled out of the restaurant and headed back to our last night in the king-sized bed, which tomorrow night we'll trade in for a tatami mat. Thanks again to Chris and Emi for showing us a great time!

Sam's the Man!

Friday evening before dinner I went to see my new bestest buddy Sam to pick up my suit. I have to admit, I was a little nervous when I decided to have the suit made because I wasn't sure how good a suit could turn out in less than 48 hours, but I can honestly say it was well worth it!

I felt like a million Hong Kong dollars when I put that suit on. Here's me and Sam. Look how excited he is to be standing next to such a handsome specimen.

If you're ever in Hong Kong... go see Sam and tell him I sent you -- just kidding. Check out his website and see who he's designed suits for: http://www.samstailor.com/


After I picked up the suit, Patty and I headed over to Aqua for dinner. She has already posted a bit on that so I won't bore you with more details, so here is simply another photo of Hong Kong's wonderful skyline to enjoy! I chose one without lasers for you non-laser fans.

I have to say how much I enjoyed Hong Kong; friendly people, super-clean, great food, cheap and easy to get around... And with views like this, what a wonderful way to cap off a terrific stay in Hong Kong!

We headed to Tokyo early on Saturday morning, spent most of the day in transit and had a relaxing evening in our hotel last night. We're off to Harajuku today to see Japanese style at its craziest. I should have plenty of great photos for you soon!

So Long Hong Kong

So after a day of trekking up a mountain to see the world's largest Buddha, Bry and I had dinner at a restaurant called Aqua with stunning views over the bay to celebrate our anniversary. Little did we know that at 8 p.m. the city turns into a virtual Pink Floyd concert (minus the music) with a laser show. It is pretty cool how all the buildings are synced up with each other and the lights change from one building to the next in Vegas fashion. Bryan, who actually has dubbed himself Laserman in the past year, was seriously distracted by this display and snapped about 20 pictures as I quietly ate my dessert and as his coffee got cold.

So this morning it was bye-bye Buddha and we got up at 5 a.m. and began our 12-hour journey to our hotel in Tokyo. Long flight, you might think? Actually, the flight was only three hours and we got in ahead of schedule at 2 p.m. But once we got to Tokyo, we had to wait an hour to catch a bus, that took an hour and a half to get to our hotel. Once we got in, we did a little bit of changing around of our plans for this segment of the trip. Normally when I wear my hat as trip planner, I score all As. Unfortunately, as of late, my role as bass player/band manager has had me seriously distracted, and I overlooked a lot as far as how we're going to spend our six nights in Japan. We had originally planned on two nights Tokyo, two nights Kyoto, one night Osaka and then a last night in Tokyo. I only really got around to looking at the guidebooks on the plane to see how impractical the Osaka night would be, so I got in and cancelled that and got our accommodation set for the rest of the week (we'll be back in Tokyo on that night.)

In our few hours here so far, while we haven't actually left the hotel, we can already tell that it will be a little more challenging in terms of the language, both written and spoken. Luckily Bryan enjoys learning bits of the language, whereas my knowledge of Japanese is limited to a few words in a Styx song preceding "Mr. Roboto." We did have plans to venture out for dinner, but after forgetting the camera and making a trip back to the room, then getting back outside to find it raining, all roads led to staying in. We had a nice meal in the hotel lounge where a guitarist and upright bassist were playing some jazz, and now we plan on getting a good night's rest in our sweet sleeper. The other thing we learned upon our arrival is that the Radisson I had us booked at is now a Sheraton. Luckily I locked in on the Radisson price, as the Sheraton price is close to double. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo.

Catching Up...

Okay, I've been pretty slow getting my daily blogs online, and so this may seem a little disjointed after reading Patty's blog. So forgive me, I'm a day behind... I had a mother of a transcript that I had to finish which took precedence.

Speaking of mothers... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!! (April 6)

Back to Thursday... After our trip to Stanley and its wonderful market - which Patty has already touched upon - we headed back Tsim Sha Tsui to see Sam the tailor for my first fitting. It's truly amazing to me that I can get a one-of-a-kind suit custom made for me in less than 48 hours!

Here I am looking like a giant with one of Sam's skilled assistants. (That's me on the right.) Anyway, you'll have to check back to see how the finished product turns out!

After a long day of walking through the market and then getting my suit fitted, Patty and I headed back towards our hotel and planned on getting a quick meal at our breakfast spot, the Cafe de Coral. However, when we got there, our attention was diverted to the Pizza Hut that just so happened to reside next door and so we ended up ordering a pizza. We could have ordered the exotic Duck a L'orange pizza, but instead we opted for the pretty standard cheese and pepperoni. Well, Pizza hut is batting .500 in Hong Kong... after a really good dinner two nights ago, our pizza arrived looking and tasting more like cardboard than anything else I've ever experienced.

This morning was the beginning of our last full day in Hong Kong and so we wanted to do something more substantial than just shopping. Since it was/is our 5th wedding anniversary, we had already made plans for dinner at a restaurant called Aqua in Kowloon. Our reservations were for 7pm, and I also had to pick up my suit after 5pm, so we didn't have too much time to meander about today.

We kicked off the day at Cafe de Coral with a light lunch rather than a breakfast and then decided to head to the island of Lantau to see the "Big Buddha"... It's a 110-foot bronze statue sitting atop a mountain in the village of Ngong Ping. After a 45-minute boat ride and a harrowing 45-minute bus ride... well, the weather gods must have had it in for us because when we arrived, the sky was filled with a thick haze/fog and so the full majesty of the golden Buddha had to be left to the imagination.

Here I am after climbing about a thousand steps, making the best of our weather fiasco... What a gyp!

I did manage to get some decent photos of some other statues... I'll let Patty post them.

Here's a picture of us at the base of the mountain in front of something we didn't take the time to figure out what it was we were standing in front of.

I still have to tell you how the suit came out, and about dinner, but it's getting late and we have to get up early for our flight to Japan. More to come...

Hong Kong Phooey

Well, the weather hasn't fully cooperated here the past few days, lots of gray skies... but we've still managed to get out and about and try some new things.

Wednesday started off with the standard breakfast buffet at the hotel dining room. Typical breakfast fare... omelettes, toast, juice, coffee... spring rolls and beef balls??? Okay, having had spring rolls many times before, I knew what to expect, but I must say however that Beef Balls Rule! A beef ball is a fluffy white ball filled with chopped bbq beef. I think I ate about 11 of those tasty treats before I was completely and utterly stuffed.

Needless to say, breakfast was skipped as Patty and I spent a bulk of the afternoon walking around the Western Market in Sheung Wan and then visiting the different shops of Times Square in Causeway Bay.

Along the way, our stomachs were beginning to grow hungry again as we passed shop after shop of interesting food delicacies and we thought about our dinner plans at the Spring Deer for some Peking Duck.

Before heading to dinner, I made a stop in to see Sam. Sam is a famous tailor in Hong Kong... tailor to celebrities, dignitaries, and presidents, both former and current. Fortunately for me, Sam makes suits for regular everyday schmoes too. So I walked into his shop and asked him to make me a suit. He immediately took my measurements and then directed me to one of his assistants to pick out fabric. I picked out a navy blue with a slightly lighter blue stripe and was told to come back in a day for a first fitting. Stay tuned...

Okay, after my initial visit with Sam, Patty and I headed to dinner. We had made reservations the night before, having been advised by the Maitre'D that they were booked solid well into the evening. When we arrived, it was as if he had been waiting for us all day. He welcomed us and whisked us away to our table. As recommended by the Time Out Hong Kong, "There's one reason to come here: Peking Duck." And so that's exactly what we ordered, along with some spring rolls (deva vu) and some fried pork dumplings.

The waiter took our menus and placed on our table a small bowl of what looked white beans at first, and a dish of chili sauce. The beans turned out to be boiled peanuts. It was like trying to pick up a greased marble... eating boiled peanuts with chopsticks is definitely a skill.

As soon as I mastered the technique of eating those damn peanuts, a new man with a cart arrived at our table. It was something out of a strange movie... he took the barbecued duck by the neck (head still on) and raised it in the air as if presenting it as a trophy. Patty and I looked at the duck-wielding man, looked at each other, back at the man, and then he swiftly chopped off the duck's head and began slicing it up for us. Another waiter placed the accompaniments on our table: thin flour pancakes, hoisin sauce, spring onions and cucumber. Can anyone say AWESOME?!? Well, I can, and it was just that. Long story short... I ate a buttload of duck that night.

Why I'm Glad Patty is a Nilsen

I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge all of the love, energy,

excitement, happiness, and wackiness that Patty has added to my life.

Happy Anniversary, Darlin!

Here's to five of the best years of my life!