Hong Kong I: Three Sunsets

Yes indeed, we did Hong Kong in one day, my friends! I’ll admit it was one of the least efficient trips we’ve taken, so read on to avoid our mistakes on your own whirlwind trip to Hong Kong!

So first, let’s get there! First flight: IAD (Washington-Dulles International Airport) to Newark, NJ. We were on the cutest little prop plane (also known as tiny), but we had the best flight attendant, maybe ever. I think his name was John. He was excited about life, and his excitement was just a delight on that tiny little airplane! He could have used the smallness of the plane and the short duration of the flight as an excuse not to serve beverages, but he didn’t. The plane was too small even for a cart in the aisle, so he walked back and forth to his galley at the front of the plane to get drinks for everyone. He also made a point to recognize all the Global Services and 1K Mileage Plus members on the flight to say thanks for flying so much with United. I know United has really gone downhill in the service department, and even Steve and I are a little bit fed up with their antics, but this flight was a diamond in the rough!

Moving on! We made a stop in the United Lounge before heading to our gate at Newark, filled our water bottles, and ate some snacks to get us through till mealtime on the flight. And before we knew it, it was time to board!

The Newark to Hong Kong route is 16 hours, and it takes you up and over the Arctic Circle. So, up and up and up we went, watching the sunset through the windows as we made our way north. But let’s remember that it’s already tomorrow morning in Hong Kong, so the sun has already risen by the time we were watching it set.

That was sunset #1.

Sunset #2 came about half way through the flight. We were actually “chasing” the sunset at such a high speed in the plane, so we caught up to it!

So it was daylight for a while, until the sunset caught back up with us about two hours before we landed in Hong Kong—that was sunset #3!

Pretty crazy, huh? As you may already know, I cannot get any sort of quality sleep in-flight; I have to make my own entertainment! Thankfully, Steve used his status and some miles to get us upgraded to business class on that leg of our trip, so at least I got to lay flat and rest my eyes for a couple of hours. Even if I’m not sleeping, being in a restful position makes a tremendous difference! Other than that, I ate, read, watched some TV and a couple of movies, and watched my Love sleep silently beside me. I don’t know how he does it!

And then we arrived! We had left our house about 10:30am on Wednesday in DC and arrived in Hong Kong at 8:45pm Thursday. What did we do with those last few hours on Thursday? Well, we made our way to the bus terminal at the Hong Kong airport, figured out what bus to take to our hotel (thankfully it was labeled with the hotel name, “Novotel”), checked in, used the wi-fi in the lobby, and went straight to bed. We are not night people!

What time did we wake up on Friday, you ask? Around 4:00am, wired and ready to go! That’s really my favorite thing about traveling westward, you’re up and feeling refreshed early in the morning, ready and able to make the most of your day! At least that was the plan…

We found the fitness center, which was well equipped but also exceptionally hot! There were a few other early risers in there as well, but none as nice looking as my Steve. ;) Back in the room we got our showers, packed up, and tried to make our plan of attack for the day. That’s about where our efficiency ended. Oh, and the view from the room when the sun came up was pretty spectacular:

What do the Chinese eat for breakfast? Dim sum. What did Quick Whit want for breakfast? Dim sum. So we checked out, found a dim sum restaurant, and even found out how to get there on a map. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found! We stopped to ask people, but either they didn’t speak English or didn’t know where it was. We walked this way, then that way, then across the street, the back across the street. Then over there, then someone finally took pity on us (we must have looked pretty lost and hungry!) and asked if she could help us find something. So we showed her the address we were looking for, and she said it was just upstairs. Yep. They build up in Asia, and our mistake was not going upstairs!

So we found it, and we were the only Caucasians there—that’s how you know it’s good right? So we waited to be seated. Then we literally had to push our way through the congested tables to get to the seats where we were being directed, and then we waited some more. We were served (very) hot mint tea, which helped us not feel so hungry for a little bit. We waited some more. I finally got someone’s attention, and they explained to me how the menu worked. I thought I got it, until several minutes later when I tried to order. So they explained it to me again, and left before we could attempt to order again. And then we waited. Someone came around again, and I still had the ordering method wrong! So she called the manager over to explain it to us, and then we just pointed to some pictures of four things we wanted to try. The hard part was over! Right?

Not so much. Then we waited again. Three of the dishes came out one at a time, but we never did get the fourth one. The food was good, but when it got to be past 9:30, we just figured the fourth one wasn’t coming. We may as well get going because we were wasting our day!

The good thing about the 2.5-hour breakfast process was that we would be able to get to the Ngong Ping Cable Car when it opened at 10:00am. We had stayed on Lantau Island the night before, and we were interested in going on the cable car there. Since we woke up so early that morning, we figured we’d be on Hong Kong Island before the cable cars opened… but luckily for us, breakfast took forever! To the cable cars!

A word of advice, get the special tour ticket! It’s worth $30 (USD) instead of $15, but if we’d known about that, we would have gladly paid double to avoid waiting 30 minutes to get to the ticket counter, then another 45 minutes to get on one of the cable cars! We literally could have saved over an hour of our precious time for an extra $30, which would have been totally worth it to us! As it was, we stayed at the little made up Ngong Ping Village at the top for about 10 minutes, took a picture with the Big Buddha, and left to go back down the mountain! The cable car ride itself was nice. We shared our car with about six other people on the way up, but with no one on the way back down, so we got to enjoy the views by ourselves! It’s quite nice. I have no idea how far it was, but probably four or five miles. The mountains were beautifully green, it went over the water, we could see the airport, and it was actually quite relaxing. I can’t imagine if we’d had to wait in line at the top to go back down!

So anyway, we got back down to the bottom and made our way to their metro system a couple of blocks away. And you would not believe the line to get on the cable cars! We passed a sign that said the wait was 75 minutes to the ticket booth (keep in mind there is yet another line from the ticket booth to the cable cars themselves), and the line went far beyond that point. So totally not worth that wait, but to each his own! Now you know to get the more expensive, much faster pass!

For more photos, click here! 

Mr. Peabody Pembroke Gets Fresh: New Orleans Day III

Mr. Peabody Pembroke Gets Fresh in New Orleans!

Welcome to our last day in the Big Easy City! It’s a full one!

First stop: Starbucks for a mug! I took the street car into town this time to save my achy little feet (that was a lot of walking the day before!) and to save time as well. 

The mission was complete! The Starbucks in the Sheraton was open and had plenty of New Orleans mugs! Got it. Walked back to the street car (did you know the New Orleans street cars are some of the oldest in the country?), and got back to the B&B before breakfast even started!

Again, breakfast was delightful. Good food, good coffee, and a beautiful setting are all I need to be delighted! Stan and the boys texted me that they were on their way to pick me up for church, so I waited outside on the front porch. Oh, so nice to have a front porch!

They picked me up and took me to church with them, and the church was so nice! Everyone was very friendly, and the worship service was enthusiastic, despite there not being a ton of people there. They even asked us to stay for lunch, but they already had lunch reservations, which they let me crash, because they’re such nice guys! 

We went to the Palace Café on Canal Street for brunch, where I had the best blue crab omelet, maybe ever! One of the boys has a friend who lives in New Orleans, so she joined us for lunch as well. Her daughter goes to Georgetown University, so I gave her my card and said to let me know the next time she goes to DC!

After lunch, the boys and I parted ways. They had some music to find, and I had some museums to see!

Well, I did until I realized that most of the museums on my list are closed on Sundays and Mondays. Bummer! Plan B… Back to the French Quarter! Thank goodness for Trip Advisor. I was able to look up the museums I wanted to go to and see if they were open or not! So I have a lot of things to come back to New Orleans for, and I’ll do better about planning my events!

Anyway, I made my way back to Jackson Square to see a few things I’d missed before. And wouldn’t you know… One of those museums was closed for renovations! So I walked a couple of yards down the sidewalk and who did I see? Amanda, Tracey, and Bill! They were talking to some people from Bill’s conference, waiting to go into one of the history museums. Since so many others were closed, I ended up going into that museum with them. And lucky for me, there was a whole exhibit on Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans! Such fun.

We stayed until the museum closed at 4:30, then spent some time enjoying New Orleans the way New Orleans is meant to be enjoyed—through music and art! We listened to musicians, watched people dance, looked at art, and strolled through a bookstore (where William Faulkner used to live!).

Just around the corner, there were more musicians and lots of people sitting around listening. There was even a modern-day wordsmith writing poems for donations. So I paid $5 to write a poem for my Love. All I needed to do was give him a topic (traveling with the one you love) and a donation, and he wrote up a sweet poem for me!

Time to get ready for dinner! I was set with what I was wearing, but the others needed to change. We would be dining at the Commander’s Palace that evening, a place that still enforces a dress code, requires a reservation, and is consistently rated the #1 restaurant in New Orleans!

We arrived at the restaurant a little before 7:00, and instantly I could see why this place is so highly rated. It’s decorated to the nines, staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and it was truly one of those fine dining experiences they say you “must” have in a lifetime! We sat down to a meticulously set table in the middle of one of their (many) rooms, and the evening truly began!

First course, foie gras. It was my first time having it, and I’m still not entirely sure what all was involved, but it was tender and delightful!

Second course, soups! We ladies couldn’t decide which one to have—turtle soup, gumbo, or butternut squash with chicken—so we all three got the sampler plate. Bill is the only one who made a strong decision and chose a bowl of the turtle soup. I thought that was the best one and wished I could have had an entire bowl of it!

Third course, entrees! Amanda got the fish of the day, Bill and Tracey both got the fried soft shell crab, and I got the lobster risotto. I couldn’t resist!

The dinner conversation was just as good as the food, and maybe better! Amanda and Tracey are such fun to be around, and Bill is just the nicest, most thoughtful and accommodating person I do believe I’ve ever met. I picked his brain a bit about being Thomas Jefferson and got his thoughts on some history topics, but I was delighted that most of the conversation was spent on travel! As you know, if you’ve ever read much of my blog or known me for any amount of time, travel is my favorite topic!

And then came dessert. Yes, we were quite stuffed from our previous three courses, but they’re known for their bread pudding, and I saw a praline parfait on the menu!

So there we were, having a lovely conversation about Thomas Jefferson biographies, and then I saw Bill’s eyes get exceptionally wide as something approached us from behind…

And this is where things got even more interesting, or a little nuts if you prefer! Someone suggested we take a picture of Mr. Peabody Pembroke with the parfait. And Bill’s idea was to pit him ON the parfait!

We had so much fun with that! And, since it was his idea in the first place, Bill offered to clean up Mr. Peabody Pembroke… This is where things started to get fresh!

So I tackled as much of the parfait as I could, and everyone else pitched in to clear out the rest. And then things got a bit sticky…

Bottoms up! And this is what my poor ducky looked like by the end:

Bill graciously took it upon himself to clean off Mr. Peabody Pembroke with his napkin and water from his glass. And then he delivered the best line of the night! He looked at Amanda and said, “May I have some of your water, dear? There’s duck in mine.” I nearly spit out my own water! We really had a hoot over that one!

After dinner, we ladies perused the other few rooms and the second floor of the restaurant, gawking at the ornate décor and beautiful furniture all the way. Bill got a cab ready for us, and off we went! They dropped me off at my B&B with the promise to see me in the morning!

And they made good on that promise. They kindly dropped me off at the airport, even though I needed to be there by 11:00 and they didn’t have to be there until 5:00! But I didn’t feel too bad about that. They needed to get something figured out with their check-in and luggage, so it was beneficial for them to come a bit early!

And that was my first ever New Orleans experience! I plan to return and see some things I missed this time around. Care to join me?

More pictures? Click here! 

Garden (District) Party: New Orleans Part II

Happy Saturday in New Orleans! Turns out I had no trouble getting up that morning, thanks to being a wonderful hour behind the East Coast! I’ve never been a strong sleeper, especially not in a strange bed, so I was up before the sun and had plenty of time to enjoy a morning walk to Café du Monde to meet the boys by 7:00. I left around 6:15 or so and gave my Love a call because he was already up himself.

I arrived at the café a bit before 7:00, and while I was still on the phone with Steve, who walked by but Amanda and Bill! They were so in love and unaware of their surroundings that they didn’t see me! I was not about to bust in on their breakfast date, but it sure was cute to see them!

Stan and the boys arrived a few minutes later, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to attack the day! I know some women go to New Orleans to pick up men, but though that was not at all my intent, there I was with four handsome gents! We did in fact take a picture:

Stan had said that if I made it there to meet them at 7:00, he’d buy me a beignet, and he did indeed make good on that promise—and a coffee, too! I had fun hanging with the boys for a while, and I even persuaded them to pick me up for church in the morning. On their way out, I had the pleasure of introducing them to my friends, who hadn’t even noticed we were there until I walked up! Again, I did not intend to be a third wheel on their date, but in true gentleman style, Bill insisted I sit with them for a while. I really do have the greatest friends!

Back to the B&B! It’s a nice walk in the day time. Breakfast was buffet style, served in the lovely parlor. The Parisian Courtyard Inn B&B is truly lovely—antiques everywhere; ornate, Victorian décor; lace tablecloths and doilies galore. Now sure, the beignets were good, but I knew for myself that I’d be needing some protein to get me through until lunch, so yes, I had another breakfast. After walking three miles round-trip, I figured I’d earned it!

Now to the Garden District! There was a free tour of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and the Garden District starting at 10:30 that I wanted to take advantage of, but Tracey and Amanda were moving a bit slow that morning. And why not? They were on vacation! So I decided to set out and take advantage of the rest of the morning.

The tour was great! I didn’t know I needed to sign up in advance, so when I got there, the guide, Kat, had to put me on standby. And fortunately for me, one person didn’t show. There was actually a party of four ahead of me, but since there was only one no-show, Kat had to tell them they were outta luck, but I was in luck! Hooray!

We meandered through the cemetery for about half an hour and saw many wonderful crypts! Turns out they’re like mini crematoriums. It gets so hot inside the above-ground graves that the bodily remains turn to ashes and get pushed back when a new body is ready to go in—no less than a year and a day from the time the last person was put in.

Then we set out for the larger portion of the tour through the Garden District, which is apparently where all the celebrities live! I’m not particularly interested in where famous people live, but I was along for the ride! New Orleans just surpassed NYC and LA as the #1 filming city—movies, TV shows, music videos, etc.—which is pretty cool. I had no idea! What I also didn’t know was that the Garden District only suffered some wind damage from hurricane Katrina in 2005, no standing water or anything else like that.

We saw Sandra Bullock’s house, John Goodman’s house, the Benjamin Button house, and the biggest house in town—11,000 square feet! We also stopped by a couple of Anne Rice’s homes and the house Mark Twain visited often when he was in town. But my favorite house, of course, was none of those, but it was the oldest in the area—dating back to 1730! And it’s been in the same family for six generations now.

Kat and I exchanged cards—tour guides must stick together, you know—and if she makes it up to DC, she’ll have her own personal tour guide! She also gave me directions to the restaurant where I’d be meeting Amanda and Tracey for lunch, and a suggestion on a good café in the area called City Perks. I got another crazy mid-day coffee (iced mocha to be precise) and headed toward Charcoal’s Gourmet Burgers on Magazine Street.

Amanda and Tracey met me there with a delightful surprise… a street car day pass! I got the elk burger, and the girls got the antelope burger, I think. It was great! Trying new meats is fun for me.

After lunch we took an unofficial tour of the Garden District, including celebrity houses! I couldn't remember everything, of course, but we hit some of the highlights! Next stop: my BB, which the girls loved! I’ll admit it, most B&Bs are kinda girly.

We were starting to get pretty pooped at that point (at least I was!), but I still needed to get some Christmas gifts from downtown, so we walked in to town (the street car was way behind schedule, so walking was the best option for us) and found a great candy store! The girls got me a sweet potato praline—yum! And oh so Southern!

Just as we hugged goodbye and parted ways to go to our respective lodgings, I turned around, and who was there but Stan’s dad and one of his brothers! I gave them both a hug because that’s what good Southern folk do, you know. Too funny to run into them at random like that!

So then it was time to make my way back to the B&B, but not before a quick stop at Starbucks for a mug to add to our collection! Much to my dismay, however, the first Starbucks where I stopped was out. And the barista told me there is a SHORTAGE of New Orleans Starbucks mugs! So I tried a couple more Starbuckses that were nearby, but they were closed. I’d just have to try again tomorrow!

This is what I dreamt about that night...

Goodnight to all. Stop back by soon and hear about our last full day in New Orleans! It involves a larger than life dessert and a duck washing, so get ready!

For pictures, click here! 

Exploring the Big Easy: Part I!

Greetings, my fine readers! If you see much of me on Facebook, you must have seen that I was in New Orleans, Louisiana, over the weekend. My friends Amanda and Tracey from Williamsburg were planning to be there with Amanda’s boyfriend, Thomas Jefferson (yes, it’s the truth!), and they asked me to go down and meet them there for the weekend. And you know me, I rarely turn down an opportunity to travel, especially to a place I’ve never been before! And this was certainly an unusual trip. Read on!

Friday morning dawned early for me, but not quite as early as for Amanda and Tracey. Steve was in the process of driving me to the airport when I got a text from Amanda… They had missed their flight! They would now be arriving a couple of hours later. My flight was fortunately uneventful, and once I checked into my B&B, I had a few hours to explore on my own before my friends arrived. Off to the French Quarter!

Well, first it was off to lunch! I found a sushi place that I thought would be good to try, since it’s my favorite, but as I was walking toward it, I passed a very coastal-looking place with porches and a patio and a big sign that said, “Seafood Gumbo Special!” Much as I love a good sushi meal, I had to try the gumbo. I was in New Orleans, after all! I ended up with a small bowl of seafood gumbo and a side of alligator hash—yum! It was a winning meal and a great introduction to the city!

Ok, now on to the French Quarter!

You folks know I’m a sightseer, not a shopper, but with time to spare and the scent of pralines all around me, I couldn’t help but step in. I found some great things for Christmas gifts, and yes, I sampled the pralines! Regular, soft, chocolate—you know, all the samplings! A couple of antique stores caught my attention, so I also had a good conversation with a fellow writer working in one of the shops. She even showed me a very cool 19^th-century writing desk with a spring-loaded secret compartment! There were just so many pretty things!

But sadly enough, I could not bring myself to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for anything, especially anything I would need to have shipped to me! So I just turned and walked out to search for some iconic New Orleans sights. First on the list: Jackson Square!

Jackson Square is named in honor of Major General Andrew Jackson, who would later become President Andrew Jackson from the great state of Tennessee! He was a really fascinating man. But anyway, it’s here in the Big Easy because of the legendary Battle of New Orleans. You know the song:

Well, in 1814 we took a little trip

Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip’.

We took a little bacon and we took a little beans

And we fought the bloody British in the town of New Orleans!

We fired our guns and the British kep’ a-comin’

There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.

We fired once more and they began a-runnin

On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico!

Well anyway, we had to learn it in the Tennessee Public School System way back when! It was quite the treat to see Jackson Square and Jackson’s statue grandly placed in the middle as he waved his hat to all who walked by.

And guess what’s just across the street from Jackson Square. Café du Monde! I believe it means Café of the World in English. It’s all anyone ever talks about when they come back from a trip to New Orleans: Oh, the beignets! Oh, the Au Laits! But I’ll tell you I took one look at it, and I nearly ran in the other direction! The line was unbelievable, and it was certainly not something I wanted to do before my friends got there—strength in numbers, you know!

But I didn’t have to wait long. My friends landed and I got to meet them at their hotel, the Bourbon New Orleans on Orleans Street. It’s beautiful! My B&B was adorable and charming, but this was really something else! Anyway, they were a bit irritated and flustered with their day’s events, but that’s nothing beignets and au laits can’t fix, right? Right!

Back to Café du Monde!

So there we were, standing in line, trying to figure out how this all works. I didn’t know what to expect or think, except I thought it would take us forever to get a seat! But no, the line only looked long. It moved quickly, and it didn’t take long to figure out that you have to have eagle eyes to find an open table as soon as people stand up to leave. Do not wait for it to be cleared, just sit down! We were delighted to learn that you get three beignets to an order, so one order would get one for each of us. I ordered an iced café au lait, Amanda ordered a large hot one, and Tracey got a traditional sized one. She’s not a fan of the chicory they put in their coffee, but with the milk she said it was good. As for me, it was nice to be in a place consistently warm enough to get an iced coffee! I usually avoid caffeine after 10:00 am, but this is a girls’ weekend getaway after all, so I cut loose! Amanda enjoyed hers at a leisurely pace, and a good time was had by all… including Mr. Peabody Pembroke!

Then something very interesting happened… I posted a picture to Facebook, and a family friend, Robin, commented, “You’re in New Orleans, where my husband is right now!”

What?! How crazy is that? Her husband is my dad’s good friend from college, Stan. So I asked her what his number was so I could send a picture of the two of us to my dad! I called and left a voicemail in hopes of meeting up with each other.

Ready to see the sites? We were! We browsed the shops for a while and did some window shopping to see what we needed to come back for and what prices were like. After seeing some street performers and wandering around the antique shops for a bit, then headed back to Amanda and Tracey’s hotel so they could change for supper.

Bill’s (Thomas Jefferson’s) schedule was a bit tricky since he was there for a conference and at the mercy of the people in charge, and in fact, they would be filming him and Napoleon Bonaparte that evening at supper! Although we were quite certain we would not be able to dine with them, we decided to take our chances and go to the same restaurant anyway. And what restaurant would that be, you ask? Why, the Napoleon House, of course!

We planned on coming in quietly so as not to disturb the filming, but Bill saw us and hopped right up, along with Napoleon, to greet us. They had not started filming just yet, so we had a minute or two to chat. We three ladies sat in the next room and enjoyed a lovely New Orleans supper. I got the one-quarter muffaletta sandwich with a side of jambalaya.

We sat chatting and planning out the next day’s activities for a while, but by 9:00, I was beat! Amanda and Tracey had experienced an even earlier and longer day than I had, so we said our goodbyes to Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon, and each other, and I took off toward my B&B. I don’t usually spend money on taxis, but my B&B was about a mile and a half away (and through a less than stellar part of town), and I hadn’t yet figured out the street car system, so I sprang for the cab. It really wasn’t terribly expensive, and it was door-to-door service!

Just as I was readying myself for some much-needed slumber, I got a text from my friend Stan! He was in town with his two brothers and their dad, and we decided to meet up at Café du Monde in the morning at 7:00. I made no promises because I was VERY tired, but I certainly would try!

Stay tuned for more! Our exciting trip is just getting started!

For more pictures, click here!