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Name: Johnny
Country: United States
State: New York
Gender: Male
Interests: Hang gliding, flying, skydiving, chinese chess, watching ultimate fighting
Occupation: Computer related
Industry: Banking/Finance
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/27/2004
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| After being in Hong Kong for 6 months - we've made a few weekend trips exploring Hong Kong.
Here are my top recommendations for visitors:
- Lantau Island for a day - the Giant Buddha is amazing
- Ferry ride from Tsim Tsa Tsui to Central at night - an amazing view
- Circle hike on The Peak during and afternoon - beautiful 360 view of Hong Kong
- Day trip to Macau to have portugese influenced chinese food
- Sai Kung for fresh fresh fresh seafood
- Lan Kwai Fong for a late drink
- Ocean Park in Aberdeen. Rides and Pandas!
- Walk of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui
- Spicy Crab at Temple Street night market
- Lunch along the promenade of Stanley
- Repulse Bay in the summer
- Barbeque at Shek O during the summer
- Brunch at SoHo
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| This is a short blog to remind myself (nice to have something to look back at in a few years) of our trip to Tokyo a few weeks ago.
Thu, Feb 7th, 2008
Arrived at the Sheraton Minako (near the Meguro station). Ventured out into Shinjuku via the JR Yamanote line to have Ramen for dinner at Keika Kumatoto. Walked around looking for Beams - unfortunately, we got lost. We did find a Uniqlo that we stopped in. Shinjuku has a lot of these little arcades where ppl played slot machines that dispensed steel balls and ppl tried the mechanical arm to pick up toys.
Fri, Feb 8th, 2008
Ate rice in tea at the Meguro station. Yummy! Took the Romance Car to Hakone for hot springs. Stayed at the Ichinoyu Shinkan. We had a delicious meal of fresh sushi, shabu shabu and a fish. The private hot bath was great. The hotel was great - the mattresses had the perfect firmness. We unfortunately didn't have enough time to go see mt. fuji.
Sat, Feb 9th, 2008
Ate a crab bisque at the Meguro station. Arrived in the Tokyo station via the bullet train. Walked to the Imperial palace. Went to Harajuku to see the Harajuku girls - but only saw a few. Then we went to Shibuya to see the Hachiko statue (dog that waited for his owner) and shop at Loft. Had a good Yakatori dinner at what we thought was Toriyoshi, but it wasn't. Luckily, the food was excellent. It started snowing on our way home.
Sun, Feb 10th, 2008
Ate rice in tea at Meguro station again. We went to Senso-ji Temple (my favorite part of the trip) in Asakusa, where we found a lot of snacks. We ate a rather expensive shrimp tempura for lunch. We went to Ginza. We went back to Harajuku to try to find more Harajuku girls. Went to Roppongi Hills to have dinner.
Mon, Feb 11th, 2008
Went to the Tsukiji Market where we had the freshest sushi!
We had a lot of fun! We miss you Tokyo! Tokyo was a very polite city. Although there was a lot of people, everyone walked around you. The only negative of our trip was that we did a lot of walking and taking trains - it was tiring.
We got very familiar with these phrases - Konnichiwa, Sayonara, Sumimasen, Domo Arigato Gozaimasu (silent u). | | |
| We had an awesome time in New Zealand. New Zealand is that special place where you can see mountains, beaches, rain forests, canyons, glaciers, rivers, beautiful skies, volcanoes and lakes all in one place! Also, you have the Maori indigeous culture along with the adventurous spirit of the kiwis.
We spent 4 days in Auckland and 4 days in Queenstown and did everything from taking in the fantastic views of the mountains from a hot air balloon, flying in a helicopter to abseiling down waterfalls.
Sat, Dec 22nd, 2007 - Auckland Day 1
Arrived in Auckland. Stayed in the Westin. Ate at Molten restaurant in Mt Eden Village. Very good food. Betty had scotch steak, and I had veal. Went to the top of Mt Eden (the highest natural point in Auckland) to watch the sunset. Afterwards, we went to Sky City Casino, caught a free acrobatics show in the lobby.
View from our room of the Auckland Sky Tower
Tips:
1) We took a shuttle van to the hotel - it cost $32 for 2 people, while a taxi will cost $45 to $55. We had to wait 15 mins until it filled up, wait for it to let other passengers off, and the driver short changed me $5. Go with the taxi. It'll be faster and better value.
2) When we took the taxi to the top of Mt Eden, the taxi driver misinterpreted "take us to the top of Mt Eden" twice. Scammer. He took us to the "end" of the road, and then tried to take us to the other "end" of Mt Eden. Jerk. We ended up paying $16 instead of $4.
3) If you take a Corporate Cab, such as the ones waiting in front of your hotel, the rates are twice as much, but you will get a nicer car. Otherwise, you can call a cab. Auckland coop and Discount are good companies.
4) If you aren't interested in gambling and have been to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, you'll only need 15mins in Sky City Casino.
Sun, Dec 23rd, 2007 - Auckland Day 2
Ate breakfast at Toast cafe in the Westin. Very good Eggs Benedict. Went canyoning in Piha Canyon and Piha beach in Waitekere ranges with AWOL adventures. Lots of fun. At night, took a 20 minute ferry ride to Devonport. Had a good fish and chips snack and walked along the beach. Went back to Auckland, ate at Kermadec brasserie, a nice place along the harbor.
Betty being lowered into a waterfall - don't let go!
Tips:
1) If you been to Newport, Cape May or Hyannis, you only need 2 hours in Devonport. It's a very small town, with two main roads - Victoria Rd where all the shops and restaurants are and the beach-side walk.
2) Try the Clevedon oysters - they are nice and creamy.
3) The wetsuits gave us a rash, so be careful.
Mon, Dec 24th, 2007 - Auckland Day 3
Slept in, because we were both sore from canyoning. The next day, went the Sky Tower to do the Sky jump at noon. Then we went to Vulcan lane and ate a great breakfast at Cafe Melba. Took a quick peek into Victoria Market, a quaint flea market that really needs only 10 mins. Took the ferry to Waiheke island. It's a 30 min ride. Most shops and restaurants were closed, since it was xmas eve. Hung out on Oneroa beach and Oneroa village. We ate at Vino Vino, the best restaurant on the island - luckily, it was open. After coming back, we had a coffee at Esquire, the Starbucks of New Zealand.
Relieved after landing
Oneroa beach in Waiheke island
Tips:
1) Call AWOL Canyoning in advance for the booking, and ask for a hotel pickup, or the nearest pickup site.
2) Plan well around the holidays. xmas eve, shops close early. Call ahead to confirm and make reservations.
3) If you plan to do the Sky jump, do that first. They give you a free ticket to go to the observation deck afterwards which saves you $25 NZD.
4) One of the easiest ways to get around within central Auckland is the Link bus, which runs every 15mins.
5) Pick up an "Arrival: The Guide to New Zealand" magazine in the Auckland airport if you see one. It's free. There's a lot of coupons which we didn't find out until afterwards such as:
- 10% off Sky Tower and $20 off Skyjump
- 10% off Kelly Tarlton's
- 10% off Skyline rides in Queenstown.
- Free DVD w/ purchase of pics for Shotover Jet
6) There was another free pamphlet for Queenstown that had $55 off a helicopter ride. So pick one up and flip thru them.
Tue, Dec 25th, 2007 - Auckland Day 4
Slept in again. Ate room service for brunch. It was not bad. Went to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater world. Lot's of fun, not too crowded, and one of the few places open on xmas day. Walked around downtown - high street, queen street. Found one mall that was open that had a lot of tourist there. Ate dinner at Westin's Q restaurant. Food was good.
Black tie event at Kelly Tarton's
Tips:
1) On xmas day, most restaurants are closed. Mainly restaurants at hotels are open, but reserve early, they book up quick. Since we were hotel guest, we were not limited to their fixed price fixed menu.
Wed, Dec 26th, 2007 - Queenstown Day 1
Since we had an early flight, we order room service again. The cab ride to the airport was $45. We arrived in beautiful Queenstown. Took a 15min cab ride to Heritage hotel. After settling in, we strolled Queenstown, which is very small. A few streets - Beach St, Shotover St. We had a great burger for lunch at Fergburger. Betty found Country Road, a nice shop. We booked our itinerary with Kiwi Discovery. Then we went up to Skyline. We took the Skyline Gondola, took in the views, did a few luges (they are very fun), had the "Taste of New Zealand Buffet" and took in a Maori show. Maori are the indigenous culture of New Zealand. We took the complimentary Connectabus (Heritage gives out free bus passes) back to the hotel.
Skyline ski lift to the luge with Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu in the back
Tips:
1) Reserve your cab the night before. Auckland coop is the biggest cab company in Auckland.
2) Kiwi Discovery has the best deal on a day trip to Milford Sound at $155 NZD per person.
3) Skip the Skyline Taste of New Zealand Buffet! It wasn't very special. There are a lot of good restaurants in Queentown we didn't get a chance to try, like Winnie's, Bunker and Coronation.
4) Some restaurants close on Boxing day, Dec 26th, which is a holiday in New Zealand. Some restaurants close on xmas eve and don't reopen until Jan 2nd.
Thu, Dec 27th, 2007 - Queenstown Day 2
Woke up at 4:30am for our hot air balloon. This was great fun. We saw the sunrise, helped set up the balloon, took great pictures, and helped pack the balloons. Breakfast was included. We got back to the hotel at 8am and slept until noon. We had lunch at Hell Pizza. Very gourmet pizza. Try the Wrath Pizza. We did some shopping, then did the Shotover jetboat ride. It was loads of fun. Then we went to Arrowtown. It was drizzling all day, but started pouring. We took the Connectabus to Arrowtown. It's 30 minutes away. It's a very small town, and you need only 30 min to 1 hour there. We checked out the chinese settlement there as well as the shops and all the closed restaurants. All the restaurants seemed packed. We wanted to go to Fishbone Grill, the best seafood restaurant in Queenstown, but they didn't have any space. We went to Broadwalk for dinner instead - good food but bad Maitre D.
Betty's pic with her new Canon EOS 400D in a hot air balloon
Can you see us in the Jetboat?
Tips:
1) Plan only 30min to 1 hour for Arrowtown. It was even smaller and more compact than Devonport. Unfortunately, it does take 30mins to get there and Connectabus runs once an hour.
2) If you want great seafood and had to choose, skip Broadwalk and go for Fishbone Grill. Broadwalk had the worst Maitre D. She served the couple behind us first even after I told them we were first, and that couple told her we were first. They got a great table for 4 with a great view and then told us there were no tables left. When I told her we were first, she didn't admit the mistake and very quickly found us a table, which was a table for 2 with no view. Basically the worst table in the house. She didn't bother giving us an apology.
Fri, Dec 28th, 2008 - Queenstown Day 3
This was our last full day in Queenstown. We got up early to catch a 8am coach ride to Milford Sound, the top attraction in New Zealand. We had a quick buffet breakfast at the hotel, came with the room. It was decent selection and decent food, but not great. The coach ride to Milford was great. We stopped 4 times for picture taking opportunities. The driver offered a helicopter or plane option to Milford. We took the helicopter option. It was fabulous. We landed on the Tutoko glacier, and flew into Milford. From there, we took the 1 hour 40 min ferry through the sound, taking pictures of Mitre Peak and the Lady Bowen waterfall. The ride back, we slept soundly. We arrived in town at 8pm just in time for our reservations at Fishbone Grill. Excellent fish chowder. There was a seafood lover's platter that had so much food, we couldn't finish it.
On the Tutoko glacier after a heli landing
Tips:
1) If you plan to do Milford Sound from Queenstown, was thinking of the day trip and wanted to squeeze in a helicopter ride, I recommend the Coach / Ferry / Helicopter package. We overpaid for our helicopter package because we did it as a spur of the moment. The helicopter is worth it, because it does a glacier landing. Skip the plane ride, because you won't get the landing or the view. Also, if you had a choice between helicopter and hot air balloon, go for the helicopter. It's cheaper, more exciting, and has better views.
Sat, Dec 29th, 2008 Queenstown Day 4
We slept in again from our long day at Milford. We went into town for a great brunch at Vudu Cafe. Did the Ledge bungy jump - it was scary, but great! We took a cab back to the airport. Our flight was from Queentown to Auckland with 5 hours between flights, so we checked in everything, so we could have dinner in Auckland. Once we were in Auckland, we took the Airbus to the city, and had dinner at Estasi. We called ahead to make sure there was room. Then we took the cab back to the airport.
Ahhhh - when did those trees and rocks get down there!
Tips:
1) You get a free ride up the gondola with your bungy jump.
2) We booked a shuttle back to the airport with the hotel for $19 NZD. A cab came instead, which would normally cost $50 NZD, so we got a great deal.
3) You only need to arrive at the airport a minimum of 1 hour before domestic flights in New Zealand.
4) Since there was a long layover, we planned ahead, and had a great meal in Auckland instead of staying in the airport. If you plan to take the Airbus into the city, the last bus back to the airport is at 8:50pm. We wanted to be back to the airport at 11pm but accidently bought a round-trip Airbus ticket not knowing the bus schedule.
5) We called a few cab companies to negotiate a fixed rate. We used Discount Cabs in Auckland, which quoted us $35 NZD instead of the normal $50 NZD to get to the airport.
Here's Betty photo journal of our trip with her new Canon EOS 400D DSLR camera.
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| I found some clips of Steve Byrne, he's funny...
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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| This most be the jolliest baby in the world. I would love to have a kid like this.
Happy Baby | | |
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