The Hong Kong Island Skyline-one of the world's greatest views

Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

A view of Hong Kong from our hotel room

“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.” – Gael Attal

Looking out from Hong Island Island......

to the Kowloon side.

A view from Victoria's Peak- a spectacular ride on the tram

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.” — Glenn Clark

This was the clearest picture the weather permitted on this cloudy day

On the observatory deck

Our Arrival in Singapore

  If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.  ~James Michener

The flight from Hong Kong to Singapore was only three hours and both are in the same time zone. Upon landing, we were greeted by a very hot 90 degree temperature, so we decided to take a swim at the highest swimming pool in the world....... on top of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. This infinity pool stretches like a roof over the 3 colossal hotel towers and offers an incredible view of the ultra modern, impeccably clean city state of Singapore (where as a former British colony, English is widely spoken). Can't wait to try the Singaporean food, which is a mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Thai! The bad part for us is that the Singapore dollar is virtually on par with the US dollar so everything is super expensive. This also makes Singapore the country with the largest per capita percentage of millionaires (15.5 per 100).  This makes me feel Singa-"poor".

The Singapore skyline from the infinity pool on the 57th floor

Don't jump Ashley, we still have a lot of traveling to do! She tricked me... there was another small ledge outside the infinity pool

Even I took a dip

“Make voyages! Attempt them… there’s nothing else.” – Tennessee Williams



I couldn't let my daughter drown, so I made the ultimate fatherly sacrifice and took a dip myself.

Hong Kong and Macao

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed 


On  Friday we made the 4 hour flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong, where we plan to stay a few days as well as taking the one hour high speed "Turbojet" boat to the former Portuguese enclave of Macao (now a bustling gambling destination 5 times bigger than Las Vegas in gambling revenue). We are interested in seeing the historic city center of Macao with the forts, monuments, churches and buildings left over from the Portuguese period. Hong Kong Island is like Manhattan in terms of the activity and fast pace only with many more people in a smaller place. Many people speak English as it was a former British colony as well as there being many people working and living in Hong Kong from all over the world due to it being the hub of finance and banking in Asia.
    Normally, a 4 hour flight would seem a bit long but after a 14 hour flight, it was nothing. On our second day here we visited the large Buddha statue on Lantau Island, about 45 minutes from Hong Kong by train and then up the mountains by cable car on an incredible 30 minute ride which ends at the Buddha statue and the famous Po Lin Monastery.  We next visited Macao where we visited the historic City center as well as visiting the Cotai strip which is becoming the premier gambling destination in the world. The odd thing about Macao was seeing all of the signs in Portuguese and Chinese as Portuguese was the official language for many years.
 

Flags commemorating Buddha's feast day on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

The entrance to the village where the large Buddha statue and the sacred Po Lin monastery are located

Macao  at night

Macao in the day

The swimming pool at our hotel, the Grand Lapa Macao

The ruins of Saint Paul in Macao

Our Last Couple of Days in Tokyo

“Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn








The weather over our final two days in Tokyo was rainy, so not too much sightseeing. We did however, explore Tokyo's vibrant food scene. On Saturday, I met a very nice Japanese businessman named Jun Kato. He lives in Tokyo but was staying at our hotel for one night to celebrate his wife's birthday, which was April 20th, the same day as mine. When he told me that they had dinner at a restaurant called "Ukai-te", I told him that I had reserved at the same restaurant for Sunday (too much of a coincidence). He then called the Manager of Ukai-te and told him that his American friend was coming to the restaurant and that he should give us special treatment.


Ukai-te is a "teppanyaki" restaurant. It is what we mistakenly call "hibachi" in the United States. Teppanyaki means (teppan "iron plate" + yaki "grilled) where the food is cooked by a chef on a flat iron surface in front of you. In the United States, it is more of a show where the chefs perform with their various knives and other utensils, whereas in Japan, it is all about the quality of the food and the way that it is seasoned and cooked. It was a very delicious meal and the steak was among the best that I have ever eaten in my life. The Manager treated us very well.


I called Mr.Kato and thanked him and he proceeded to invite us out to dinner with his family on Monday night. He took us to a cozy restaurant which was well known to the locals which is a "yakitori" style restaurant (yaki "grilled" + tori "chicken or bird"). We were accompanied by Mr. Kato's lovely wife and his 5 year old son. In a yakitori restaurant, a cook prepares mini-skewers of chicken and grilled vegetables. They will grill every part of the chicken for which us Americans is interesting if not novel (thanks in part to Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods" television show). The most interesting part was when they brought us something which they called "fresh chicken" with soy sauce, which I quickly learned was "fresh" in the sense of "raw". Next course, please!  Overall, the meal and the experience was great thanks to Mr. Kato, his wife and son. THANK YOU KATO FAMILY!!!!!!

Tonight, we will leave Tokyo for the 5 hour flight to Hong Kong. We will miss Tokyo and want to return. I leave you some pictures of the restaurant and the Shangri-La Tokyo Hotel, which has been our home for the last few days.




BTW, Mr. Kato drove us to the airport (such a nice person) Enjoy the pictures!!

Celebrating my birthday in Tokyo (the  best gift- a rich chocolate cake)

My friend,  businessman  Mr. Jun Kato, He and his lovely family entertained us while in Tokyo.

Mr." Hiro" and Ms. Tomoko from the  Concierge Lounge, the "Horizon Club"

The girl dressed in red, Shion, made sure that we never got lost while navigating the labyrinthian Tokyo train station

                               

Ashley at her Origami class

The finished product-she has become a true master of the art