"Goooooood Morning VIETNAM!!!!"

Day 37 - "Goooooood Morning VIETNAM!!!!" - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

"Crazy bunch of devils" - that's what the "documentary" movie that we saw at the Cu Chi Tunnels called Americans. "Crazy bunch of devils" who bombed "women, children, grass, trees, pots and pans and even Buddhist statues." Needless to say, it is very interesting hearing about the Vietnam war from the other side's point of view. We were the "enemies" that had to be killed and they proudly showed biopics of Vietcong (guerilla) soldiers (including a little girl) who were "American Killer Heroes" because they killed "hundreds of American enemies". I was actually uncomfortable saying I was from the US when asked where I was from. I simply said "HK" but Eric said "US", so clearly someone was lying....

Our tourguide, who served briefly in the military and whose father was a guerilla fighter, proudly showed us the various booby traps and weapons used by the vietcong to maim and kill American soldiers. It was rather gruesome. They really thought of everything. There is this one swinging door contraption where one side is covered with sharp bamboo sticks. However, because they knew American soldiers learned to guard their upper body with their guns, the guerilla fighters built the door with a separate lower swinging door so that even if you block the upper part, the lower part would still swing up and get you. Innovative and deadly.

I recognize that there is probably wrong on both sides and both sides were passionate about their beliefs, else there wouldn't have been a war. It was just sad to see. It was strange walking through the jungle where the war actually took place. The tourguide informed us that the trees are all fairly new - about 30 years old since the area was barren after the war. There are several craters in the ground where American bombs were dropped. Also, there is a shooting range there, so it's somewhat surreal to be walking through the jungle, viewing the booby traps and tunnels while hearing M16s and AK47s blasting in the near distance.

The tunnels themselves are absolutely amazing. Three layers of tunnels covering over 200 kms. The first layer was for fighting. The second layer was for bombs and ammunition. The third layer is where they ran to when they suspected that bombing would occur above.

We had the opportunity to go through the first layer of tunnels for 100 meters. It was extremely cramped, hot and humid down there. Unless you were 2 feet tall, you could not stand. They left the tunnels in their original state, with the exception of the addition of a few dim lights to show you the corners where the tunnel turned. Because tunnels were dug (by spoon) at various starting points, there were many twists and turns to make the tunnels meet. It is a labyrinth down there. There were parts where you are engulfed completely in darkness (In the old days, they used cloth soaked in oil to light the way). Eric was barely 5 feet in front of me and at times I couldn't even see him. Poor Eric, he was on his hands and knees for the most part crawling through the tunnels. I, being vertically challenged, simply had to crouch down to walk through. Nevertheless, it was not pleasant. In fact, we were the only two in our group to finish the 100 meter trek. Our tour guide said that soldiers could get through in 30 seconds. That seems a little too fast, but still much better than our 5+ minutes. By the time we got out, we were sopping wet. We were told that people don't attempt the second or third layer anymore because the ventilation is so bad and the tunnels are even narrower.

We were told that the first layer is where the guerilla fighters had look outs for American soldiers. Once they were spotted, the guerilla fighters would go through the tunnel system and blindside the American troops from the back side. The soldiers were completely blindsided, they never knew what hit them.

There is a separate tunnel system that drains water to the river to prevent flooding in the region. Our tour guide informed us that American soldiers wasted many hours and weapons on these water tunnels because they had mistaken them for the Cu Chi tunnels.

At the end, they fed us some fresh tapioca dipped in peanut and sugar. This was the food of the vietcong. Fresh tapioca doesn't taste like the see through sago balls we're used to. It's very starchy, like potato. Anyhow, that ended our visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
While disturbing, it was a interesting piece of history to experience first (second?)-hand. I highly recommend visiting.

Afterwards, we needed to eat. At 3:00pm, we were dropped off at the war museum, which was close to this restaurant called Quan An Ngon that we wanted to try. We walked to the address to discover that it was no longer there. The whole lot was under construction. So we then decided to go to a restaurant nearby that the hotel recommended called Ngon on Pasteur street. Turns out it's the same place. Yay!

It looked relatively new, clean, and had an extensive menu. We knew we'd be coming back even before trying the food. After narrowing down the choices, we had vermicelli with crab meat, clams with lemongrass, and pork chops and pig skin with broken rice. All very tasty.

We then walked around the inside of the Ben Thanh Market, which was closed last night. It seems like there was no bargaining at most places based on the fixed prices signs. Maybe because of that, they weren't pushy at all. We eyed a painting that we plan to buy later. It was the same painting we saw earlier but at a fraction of the price.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Fanny for dessert. We had ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sauce on a boat made out of banana leaves and crepes with coconut ice cream and chocolate sauce. And later topped it off with orange sherbet mixed with crushed ice. Yes, we're pigs.

Perfect end to an early night.

For pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5398072097444522097&authkey=Gv1sRgCIbso5jF5LHKygE&feat=email

"Back to the Hub" and "Mosquitos missed us and we lost our bargaining power"

Day 35 - "Back to the Hub" - Bangkok, Thailand

We woke up to catch a ferry to Macau where we are flying back to our hub, Bangkok. We tried to catch a standby on an earlier ferry. It was a long line and when it looked like no one else would get on, everybody rushed to the next ferry for standby. We just decided to wait for our scheduled ferry rather than follow the herd. The ferry before ours was delayed so we were a little concerned that we would end up missing our flight, especially since we still had to go through customs. Fortunately, our ferry took off on time and we caught our flight to Bangkok.

Once in Bangkok, we took a cab to our hotel. Our first impression of the cab driver was that he wouldn't try to scam us. Once we arrived, he tried to charge us more for the highway tolls than he paid - 150 bahts when it was really 70 bahts. Come on, we've done this several times, we're not gullible tourists, at least when it comes to taxi rides from the airport. He kept saying "150" and we said "no, 70", finally, he's like "oh yeah..." then UNDERcharged us. The man couldn't add. We politely corrected him, even though we were irritated that he had the nerve to try to scam us. So rude.

This time, we decided to stay at a different hotel, the Legacy Suites. It's a little more convenient location-wise and more modern-looking. We were upgraded to an executive suite, probably because it's a slow monday night. It has the look and feel of Le Meridien.

We were starving, so we headed out to dinner. I wanted to go back to the Japanese restaurant from our first day in Bangkok. We know that we should be trying new restaurants, but it was really good the first time. (Theresa: I swear Eric had a homing device focused on this restaurant. He made a bee-line for it without hesitation as if he'd been there many times.) And the second time was just as delicious. We had a little trouble at first with the menu (the english was basically the same as the japanese), but managed to order. In addition to the pork tonkatsu filled with cheese and the fried oysters, we countered it with some vegetables, edamame and tomato salad. Theresa loved her strawberry juice and the fact that they peeled off all the skin on the tomatoes. We were pretty sure we were the only non-Japanese people there.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Emporium Mall to just browse through some of the high end shops. We then went to the top floor to get some dessert at the food court. Theresa had a mango sticky rice (her go-to dessert) and I had a chocolate cheesecake and later an orange ice cream. Exhausted with our bellies full, we headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow, we head to Vietnam.


Day 36 - "Mosquitos missed us and we lost our bargaining power" - Bangkok, Thailand and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We both needed haircuts. So we went back to the place that I went to a couple weeks ago. Theresa enjoyed the 5-star treatment, starting with two shampoos (each lasting 5-10 minutes with head massages) and conditioning, then the menthol cooling head massage. She was jealous I got an extra 15 minutes shoulder/back massage that she didn't get, but was happy that the stylist spent over an hour on her hair. She ended up with a japanese haircut, but it was much better than the bad 12-year old haircut she got back in Tampa.

Theresa then got a 90 minute thai massage while I went back to the hotel to book our Ho Chi Minh hotel and pack up our bags. Hmmm, that doesn't sound like a fair deal at all.

As usual, our taxi ride back to the airport required us to force our cabbie to use the meter. He kept trying to charge us 300 bahts without the meter, we refused. Our meter ended up being 199, and we were nice enough to give him 60 bahts on top of that. These taxis can't trick us!

Er, Ho Chi Minh is another story. We landed and promptly headed to the taxi stand. Not sure how it works cause we stood there for awhile and the dispatchers kept ignoring us and helping other people. Finally, we got someone who acknowledged us and hailed us a cab. We knew it would get interesting since they don't use meters. We asked how much a ride to the hotel would be. They kept saying "$300" which confused us since we heard a ride would be roughly $80,000 Viet Dollars. Turns out what they meant was $300,000. I started to argue with the cab driver that it should just be $100. He finally said $200 which was still too high but we were already in the cab and our bags were in the trunk, didn't really have much bargaining power. Oh well, lesson learned. Next time, we will finalize the cost before getting in the cab.

We arrived at our hotel - Asian Ruby - after weaving in and out of traffic. As expected, there were tons of motorcycles and mopeds everywhere. We saw one where this baby (less than 2 years old) was just sitting in the lap of the driver of a moped. Scary stuff. The hotel is pretty nice. The room is small, but it's nice and clean and the amenities are nice. A little nervous because they keep our passports at the front desk...hopefully they don't lose them.

We had heard about this Pho place called "Pho 2000" that Bill Clinton visited that is supposed to be really good. We asked the front desk about it and they said it was too far, and suggested another place for us to go to. So we headed out. We found the street and while looking for street numbers, I randomly found another Pho 2000! So we decided to eat there. I had beef vemicelli and Theresa had beef pho. Both were really good. Theresa said it was the best pho she's ever had - which was solidifed by the fact that she ate the whole thing. The broth was really tasty and they claim that it is MSG-free. Theresa topped it off with a pineapple shake.

We then took a walk around town and hit the night market. I think our bargaining skills have gone downhill, else, the vietnamese are much harder to haggle with. We couldn't get our 40% numbers. At one point, I think I pissed a vendor off cause my counter-offer was so low. She wouldn't even engage in a counter-offer, she just dismissed us. It was amusing walking around, everyone spoke to me in English but spoke to Theresa in VIetnamese. Maybe she does look Vietnamese. In addition to the vendors, the mosquitos greeted us with enthusiasm. After being in HK for so long, we forgot how aggressive these mosquitos are. We opted to walk out of the hotel without mosquito repellent. Big mistake. Theresa's collected about 4 new bites. We bought a few items, a belt for Theresa, two shirts for me, and some other items for gifts.

Headed back around 10pm, since we have an early morning tomorrow -Tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels.

For pictures of days 35 and 36, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5397692900567296865&authkey=Gv1sRgCLT63OijuJ67gAE&feat=email

"Running Around Town" and "Last Day in the Motherland" - Hong Kong, China

Day 33 - "Running Around Town" - Hong Kong, China

After our early morning yesterday, we opted to sleep in today. I think we woke up around 11 a.m. It felt awesome. Sadly, Uncle George's computer decided to die on us that day. We weren't able to use the internet. Frankly, that thing needed to be put to rest, it was clearly on its last leg. As Uncle George put it, the computer was older than his wife! Heheh, sorry Aunt Donna!

We packed up the wedding dress and cheong sam, and the souvenirs that we had accumulated to date, and headed to the General Post Office in Central to mail our stuff out. We encountered a crazy woman screaming at the top of her lungs at some guy in the post office. Literally, she had gone postal. The guy had to call the police to have her escorted away, apparently, she had been stalking him. Scary.

It was hard to part with my dresses. I decided to insure the box. Interestingly, in order to insure the package, I had to write on the package exactly how much money the box was insured for. To me, that seemed a bit odd. It was almost like telling theives, "Hey, this box is worth $$$, please steal it." When I pointed this out to the the postal worker, she just smiled and said, "it's insured, if it gets stolen, you'll get your money back." Dude, I don't want my money back, I want my wedding dress!!! To calm my nerves, she suggested I expedite the delivery, so that it should arrive on Tuesday. Hopefully it's there in one piece!

Because we enjoyed it so much, we decided to eat lunch at Tasty Congee and Noodle Wantun Shop in the IFC again. Eric tried the shrimp wantun noodle soup and I had the braised beef on dry noodles with oyster sauce and clear broth. We shared an order of char siu bao. It was all very tasty.

I've come to love the top-notch service you receive in Hong Kong. Even in the public bathrooms in the mall there is a custodian who checks each stall after someone comes out to clean it before the next person goes in. The bathrooms are spotless! We then went back to Roger's to pick up Eric's new suit. He put it on and it fit perfectly. He looked so handsome! The shirts fit nicely, too. Roger really knew Eric's taste and body type and molded the suit to fit him perfectly. The workmanship was excellent. We were very happy with the final product. Eric says his favorite part of the suit was the lining, he loves the blue lining.

I took a quick nap and then we got dolled up for dinner at the Hong Kong Club with Uncle George, Aunt Donna, Michelle, Dominic and Michelle's boyfriend, Danny. It was the first meeting of the boyfriend. Lots of tense anticipation at first, but it ended up being a fabulous night. I wasn't that hungry, but Eric devoured everything. They served souffles at the end, and I shared Uncle George's ginger souffle. Perhaps one of the most amazing desserts I have ever eaten. Eric looked fantastic in his new suit. My GQ man. The restaurant was very nice. I got a bit cold, so they brought out a shawl for me. Sigh, what great service. I'm getting spoiled.

For pictures of the day, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5396228265571426097&authkey=Gv1sRgCI__-L3qw6qCCw&feat=email

Day 34 - "Last Day in the Motherland" - Hong Kong, China

Our last full day in HK, naturally, we slept in. Eric spent the better part of the morning trying to fix Uncle George's computer, but eventually, we decided it was probably best to just buy him a new computer. That thing really did need to be put to rest.

We started the morning running errands. We packed up Eric's suit and some other clothes and mailed them off at the post office. It was a busy day at the post office. At least this time, no one going postal.

We found out Eric's uncle's horse was racing today, so we went to place a bid on Natural Nine, the #9 horse in the 9th race. Unfortunately, it did not win :(

We then met up with my aunt and cousins again to head to chi fu for lunch with my grandmother. She's such a cute old lady. So scatter-brained and funny. She seemed surprised that I was taller than her which cracked me up. Mentally, she's perfectly fit. Physically, she's definitely gotten a bit older. It's sad to see how difficult it is for her to walk around when she's still so spirited.

We pigged out at lunch and then headed back into town. We headed to Admiralty with Michelle and bought some flowers for Aunt Jamila and a new computer for Uncle George. We then headed to Mong Kok to buy a DVD burner for ourselves. Man, it was packed out there. Everyone was out and about shopping. They had some Samsung promotion going on with these asian girls wearing skimpy outfits. It was a little bizarre seeing these guys with cameras taking pictures of these girls. Eric was intrigued and decided to take a picture of the guys taking pictures of the girls.

Our last night in HK, we decided to have a nice canto meal at Yung Kee in Central. We had their famous roast goose, two veggies with crab meat sauce, fish maw and minced chicken soup and young chow fried rice. Everything was very tasty and a nice end to our trip to HK.

Now it's time to set up Uncle George's computer and start packing. We had out at 10 am tomorrow to Macau to catch our flight back to Bangkok.

For pictures of the day, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5396228265571426097&authkey=Gv1sRgCI__-L3qw6qCCw&feat=email

"More Eating" and "Fitting Day"

Day 31 - "More Eating" - Hong Kong, China

I've been having a hankering for some good congee and my friend Jenny suggested "Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop" in the IFC building. Probably twice as expensive as a local hole in the wall, but heck, it was still reasonably priced and indeed, was very tasty. I had the congee with savory pork and preserved egg and Eric had congee with sliced fish, ginger and scallion. We topped it off with some fried dough (yao tew). Definitely hit the spot.

We then met up with Jenny to check out this local men's tailor that both she and my cousin Michelle's boyfriend recommended called "Roger Concepts". We were initially going to get a dress shirt made, just for the experience, but after seeing all the business in the place and the quality of his workmanship, Eric decided to get a new suit made and a few dress shirts. I tried to convince him to get a tux, but I guess that would be a bit impractical. We spent some time checking out shirt materials. We're trying to branch out from the basic blues a bit. Jenny and I agreed on this white dress shirt with a maroon-ish stripe pattern. Eric and Jenny chose a blue with a pink stripe. PINK, yes PINK. Rest assured, it's still a very "manly" shirt! Anyhow, Roger took a quick look at Eric and pinned him as a conservative dresser. Bingo! He recommended a dark suit with a dark stripe in a two button design with side flares. For the lining, he recommended a greyish blue fabric. Eric was on board. He measured Eric and asked him to come back tomorrow for a fitting. Man, they're quick!

Afterwards, I tried on some cheong sams (chinese dresses) at this store across the street. They had some pretty ones, but I decided to hold out for what the bridal shop could provide me. Eric then went back to Jenny's aunt's store to buy another jacket for his brother. This time, he chose emporio armani. good choice.

By then, we were hungry and were meeting Eric's Uncle Paul and Aunt Nancy for dinner in Central. We met up at The Landmark (our normal meeting place) and walked over to the Shanghai Fraternity Association Restaurant in Central. Dinner consisted of shanghai dumplings, pan fried pork buns, vegetable rolls, a bean curd dish, sweet and sour pork ribs, and a pan fried sticky rice with red bean dessert. As usual, delish. Eric likes the Shanghainese food.

After dinner, we were so stuffed so we decided to take a walk around the IFC Mall, another one of our familiar haunts. We considered watching a movie, but there really wasn't anything interesting showing, so we just browsed the grocery store and did a little window shopping. Some of the stores here close late, around 10pm. They have the same stores that we have in the US, Zara, Mango, etc. but I think the prices here are a little more expensive.

As usual, we walked passed all the lively clubs and bars beckoning us, and retired like old fogeys for the evening.


Day 32 - "Fitting Day" - Hong Kong, China

Today was the day I pick up my wedding dress!!! Aunt Jamila graciously offered to take us back to Tsim Sha Tsui to pick up the dress. Before we went, we decided to meet up for breakfast on the Peak. We took the Peak Tram up to the Peak Galleria around 8:30 a.m. The tram is similar to the cable car in SF, but the ride is even steeper! It was a nice ride up, but unfortunately, on a weekday, not much was open that early! It was kind of a ghost town. We ended up eating breakfast at this little place with eggs, sausage, waffles and bacon. It wasn't all that great, but that's not what we were there for. We were there for the view of HK. It was really nice and peaceful, particularly since not that many people were out and about yet. I was able to find my grandma's place at Chi Fu in Pokfulum down at the bottom of the peak.

Good thing we got there when we did because when we headed back down the tram was jam packed with parents and these elementary school kids. Seemed like a school field trip of sorts.

Anyhoo, we headed to Tsim Sha Tsui and I was reunited with my wedding dress. Yay, it wasn't a scam! I also found my cheong sam there. We didn't have time to tailor it, but the length was right. The stomach area is a bit big, but I figured since I *hopefully* will lose weight before next year, I will have to alter it again anyway, so decided to just buy as is. I have prelminarily put in an order for my bridesmaid dresses. I just need to give them a ring if I decided to have them make the dresses. Feels good to have things start to fall into place.

After that, Eric and I decided to part ways for a few hours. Personally, I think he was getting tired of seeing me 24-7 and needed the break. heehe. I headed to the MTR to catch the subway to Admiralty and he headed back to Central to go to his suit fitting. I met up with my Uncle George, Aunt Donna and cousin Dominic to head to the Golf Club in Fanling for lunch and then Aunt Donna and I went to the Fanling cemetary to give respects to my yeh yeh (grandfather). We then headed to Sha Tin to give respects to my Aunt Mandy. It made me sad, but it was nice to see how peaceful and beautiful her resting place is. I then headed back to SoHo to meet up with Eric for dinner.

While I was gone, Eric went to his fitting with Roger. He had a one sleeve jacket and a no-waistband pair of pants to try on. I think he was a little skeptical at first as to how the finished product would be but Roger reassured him that it would look terrific. To celebrate his freedom from me, he got to gorge on a make-your-own burger with truffle cream sauce.

We then headed to dinner on our own to Pacific Grill. After our recent gorging, we decided to make it a little light. Seared scallops on pumpkin puree topped with caviar for a starter and then a greek salad for me and a king prawn caesar salad for Eric. Again, we passed by all the drunk people on our way home. Oh, but wait! We decided to get a little crazy and headed to the Wellcome super market to buy some ice cream bars. Man, we're wild.

For pictures of Days 31 and 32, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5396228265571426097&authkey=Gv1sRgCI__-L3qw6qCCw&feat=email

"On a Mission", "Celebrations and More Celebrations" and "Eating and Chilling"

Day 28 - "On a Mission" - Hong Kong, China

Today I was on a mission. My goal was to find an awesome wedding dress. I had some luck with Jenny on Saturday, but wanted to keep looking. We started the day late. Decided to sleep in a bit and then just take our time getting ready. We were meeting Eric's aunt Jamila for some wedding shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon in the afternoon.

First, we needed to run some errands - including changing our plane flights around. We decided to extend our stay in HK because of my skin allergy and because we were enjoying our time here. We are now heading out next Monday. Because the internet/computer in the apartment runs at snail pace, we had to find a wifi eating place. But how? Restaurants here for some reason don't advertise that they have this. So, we took out our laptop and walked up and down the street in search of wireless connection. Luckily, we didn't have to look too far. Halfway down the street, we found Fat Angelo's, an Italian restaurant. Pasta for me, sandwich for Eric. It was fine, not great, fine. We got to use all the internet we needed though, so it was worth it.

We then walked down to Queen's Road in Central to walk around the Landmark shopping center before we met Aunt Jamila for some afternoon shopping. It was quite an interesting experience shopping for wedding dresses. In Tsim Sha Tsui on Kimberley street there are tons and tons of wedding dress shops. They vary in quality and service. At some places, you get really great service and they let you try everything on. At others, they won't let you come in if you don't have an appointment, even if there's no one else there. Some places had the nerve to charge you a $500 HKD ($65US) service charge just to be able to try on some dresses. Out of principle, I refused to patronize any of those places.

The place I went to in Central with Jenny was really nice. We didn't have an appointment but she let us in. Also, even though my skin was a mess, she was nice and said it was fine for me to try on. She was patient and nice. They had a good selection, too. I liked their dresses, I don't know if I loved them. It's too bad, cause the prices weren't bad.

Anyhow, back to the day. The first few shops were abysmal. They tried to sell me a used, ripped, dirty dress for $12K HKD ($~1500). Who does that?! When I pointed out that the slip was ripped and the seams were falling off, she said she'd cut the seams and that no one sees the underside of the dress anyway. Seriously? Why is it that in the bridal industry they can get away with such poor service and expect people to just accept it? I was quite shocked and becoming depressed, because it was so frustrating. I also didn't see anything that I really liked. They give you a catalog book and tell you to look through it and point out which ones you want.If you pick more than 2, then they charge you the service fee. How can you find your dream dress in a catalog without being able to see and touch it?

After about four or five shops, I was on the verge of quitting when out of nowhere we were approached by this man on the street who only spoke mandarin. Claimed he had a team from Taiwan that had a ton of wedding dresses on the second floor of this building and that he could take us there. It reminded me of NYC chinatown when they say they'll take you to a remote building to sell you a fake Gucci bag. I was a bit skeptical but we thought we may as well try something different since what we were doing was not working.

Anyhow, we go up to this small space filled with wedding dresses. They were stunning! Hand embroidered with french lace and beading. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I only tried on two, that was all that I needed. They were both beautiful and fit me perfectly. I decided on the first one I tried on. Poor Eric, I think he was bored to tears. To be rational, we decided to hold off purchasing until my Aunt Donna and cousin Michelle came to give their opinions.

We took a break and went to dinner with Aunt Jamila and Uncle Lionel at Hong Kong Old Restaurant, which is Shanghainese fare. It was a good dinner, light, but tasty. After dinner, we parted ways with Eric's aunt and uncle and went back to the wedding shop to meet up with my aunt and cousin. After much discussion and negotiation, I decided to purchase the dress! They were going to make me a custom one but since we're traveling, we decided to forego the hassle of waiting for them to make it and then me trying on and sending back to them. We decided to just buy one off the rack and asked them to alter that one (it was brand spanking new anyway). I am going back on Friday to try it on and pick it up.

I am still a little skeptical as to whether the shop is legit. The dress was too good to be true (they also provide the veil as well). I have this fear that when I show up on Friday the shop will be closed up and they will have run off with my 50% deposit. Hmmm, crossing my fingers.

Well, I must agree, the saying is true. Once you try it on, you know exactly whether it's the one or not. I tried on a few that I thought were nice and pretty, but none that made me feel beautiful. This one did. I can't wait to pick it up.

They are also bringing me material for making a chinese dress and bridesmaid dresses. Will take a look at that on Friday as well. I don't think I will be able to sleep well until I have the dress in hand and shipped back to Florida!

Wanted to give a shout out to Eric for being a patient and kind fiance, Aunt Jamila for taking the time to shop with me and introducing me to these shops and to Aunt Donna for driving a hard bargain! Let's hope it all pays off! :)


Day 29 - "Celebrations and More Celebrations" - Hong Kong, China

As usual, we slept in a bit. I really don't think we can physically leave the flat before 10 a.m. Eric had gone to this restaurant, Tsui Wah, with his aunt and uncle for a snack a few days ago and liked it, so we decided to go there for lunch. The place was a mad house. We kept getting told to go up a floor, finally found a shared table in a small corner on the third floor. Eric had pork chops with sweet corn and spaghetti and I had beef, tomato and egg on rice. The place was buzzing with activity. In fact, the whole city is constantly buzzing with activity. It reminds us a lot of NY but with more color and shorter people. Like Bangkok, you smell food everywhere. But in addition to that, the city is full of lights and movement. People are always on the go and everything is lit up with neon lights. Reminds me of Times Square NY, but not isolated to one spot. The whole city is lit up in lights. Guess they don't have any energy conservation initiatives here....

We then took the MTR to Causeway Bay to meet up with cousins and aunts and uncles. Then we headed to Mong Kok to go to Ladies' Market (Lieu Yan Guy) with cousin Willy. I bought dresses for $100 HKD. They try to upsell, but back down when I start complaining that I can pay the same or less for the same thing in the US. There are not as good of bargains as in Thailand, but they do have more modern stuff, and not just trinkets.

We were pretty exhausted from all the walking and shopping, so we headed back to the apartment for a break. Then we got ready for Aunt Donna's birthday dinner at the HK Golf Club. We had a traditional multi-course chinese dinner. Eric and I were introduced to "goose web". As you can imagine, since I don't eat regular chicken, I was surely not going to eat goose feet! Eric was braver and attempted to eat it. Said it didn't taste like much.

We finally rolled ourselves out of there around 10pm. Then the cousins all headed out on the town. We went to this played called Racks to shoot pool. Eric and me vs. Michelle and Willy. We creamed them 10-5. They won the last game, which they seemed to think gave them the license to gloat, heh. We had a few beers and shots (OK, I had half a beer and a quarter of a shot) - so please excuse the pictures. There are some silly ones in there. Turns out my cousin Willy turns purple just like me!

We left around 2:30 am and went for a late night snack at Tsui Wah. Looks like we went full circle. Started there and ended there. We somehow managed to get ourselves ready for bed and finally retired around 4am.


Day 30 - "Eating and Chilling" - Hong Kong, China

We're going to keep this one short. Our day consisted of waking up late, having wonton mein for lunch, catching up on email, and lounging around and taking the occasional nap. We eventually met up with Jenny and Eugene for dinner at a shanghainese restaurant called Xiao Nan Guo in Central. We had minced pork stuffed sesame buns, shanghai dumplings, rice cakes, soup with chicken and wontons. All the dishes that Jenny and Eugene ordered were really good.

Afterwards, we took a walk through Lan Kwei Fong, an area with lots of bars and clubs, mostly patronized by ex-pats. We'll probably end up spending more time here before we leave HK.

For the pictures of Days 28 to 30, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5395322812004015057&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ7o8q6-qPeJowE&feat=email

"Day at the Races" and "Eating and Shopping "

Day 26 - Hong Kong, China

We had noticed yesterday that Theresa had developed an allergic reaction on her arm. We woke up at 4am and noticed that it had significantly worsened, spreading to both arms and legs. So we took a walk to see if there were any stores opened that sold Benadryl. Only 7-Elevens were opened and they did not have it. Surprisingly, there were still people out drinking. We witnessed a fight breaking out, we took cover in a doorway. The one tall, skinny, euro guy who started the fight, breaks away and runs past us and jumps in a cab. Pretty funny because he was running like a little girl.

At 8:30am, we called Theresa's aunt and uncle. Her uncle then took us to their family doctor for a 9:30 am appointment near the peak. The doctor said that it was likely an allergic reaction to some medication that she had been taking and prescribed some anti-histamines and a steriod cream. We were in and out within 30 minutes. Amazing to get an appointment on a weekend with no unnecessary waiting times.

Today was our day at the race track in Sha Tin. When we arrived, we walked through the owner's parking lot. It was basically a Mercedes car show. There we had lunch at the Hong Kong Club box with Theresa's uncles, aunts, and cousin. It was an appetizer and dessert buffet and we both ordered prime rib for the main course. Theresa and I won three quinellas. Too bad we were only playing $10 HKD a number, which is not even two US Dollars. We started doubling our bets, but had less luck. After the 7th race, Theresa went dress shopping with her aunts while I hung out with my uncle and aunt for the rest of the racing day. We were up more than 300 HKD at one point, but came out even at the end.

We then went with my uncle and auntie to dinner at Amigo in Happy Valley. It used to be a Spanish restaurant, but now it's a French restaurant with a Spanish theme. It kind of reminded us of Bern's in Tampa, but more formal. We were given small Amigo notepads with our names on it. So fancy. We had escargot and caesar salad for appetizer. Theresa mistakenly ordered an ox tail soup as another appetizer. For the main course, my uncle and I both had the duck fillet with mushroom sauce and my auntie and Theresa both had the ox tail stew. We were too full for dessert, but still got complimentary chocolate covered ice cream balls on a stick. Perfect.

After eating so much for lunch and dinner, we realized that we can not eat like this everyday.

We met up with Theresa's cousin at Tonic in the SoHo area to end the night.

Day 27 - Hong Kong, China

We woke up to find that Theresa's skin is doing much better. Hopefully, people at the stores won't freak out when she tries on dresses.

For lunch, we met up with Theresa's college friends, Jenny and Eugene and their baby, Jake, for dim sum at Lei Garden in the IFC building. Very tasty. We noticed how great the customer service is here. This woman was saying she was cold and the waiter brought out a wrap for her to use. I can't imagine that happening at a dimsum place in the states! After stuffing ourselves, Theresa went dress shopping with Jenny while I had drinks and snacks with my uncle and aunt near Central.

Eugene's aunt owns a clothing shop that specializes in name brand discounted items (Prada and Armani jackets for about $100 USD and suits for $150 USD). I ended up buying a reversible hugo boss jacket. Theresa struck out - she was hesitant to buy anything knowing the limited space we have in SF.

We then headed to Kennedy Road to meet up with Theresa's aunt and uncle for pre-dinner drinks. Theresa is getting good at giving cab drivers addresses - "Keh nah dee DOH." We've learned to just say English very fobby, and we can usually find our way. Her uncle's specialty is gin and tonic. He was happy that he now had another drinking buddy. For dinner, we went to Chi Fu with her aunt, cousin and grandma. We had steamed fish, sweet and sour pork, vegetables, eggplant clay pot, and vermicelli with beef. After dinner we went back to her grandmother's and hung out looking at old pictures.

Afterwards, we went out with her cousins Michelle and Willy for drinks in SoHo. They had a good time making fun of Michelle in front of her boyfriend.

For the pictures of Days 26 and 27, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5394950523694938017&authkey=Gv1sRgCMfZnr_gnObjJQ&feat=email

"Planes, Trains (Shuttles), and Automobiles" and "Returning to the Motherland"

Day 24 - Siem Reap, Cambodia - Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Bangkok, Thailand

Today, we are heading back to Phnom Penh to take a flight back to Bangkok, our hub for Asia. We started the day with breakfast at the hotel. Waffles, omelettes, noodle soup, fried rice and then some. We stuffed ourselves enough to hold us over for the 5 hour car ride back to Phnom Penh. We really enjoyed the Borei Angkor. It was very comfortable and classy.

We had asked a bellboy at the hotel to call our prior chauffeur to arrange for a private car back to Phnom Penh. The bellboy promised us he would take care of it. Anyhow, not surprisingly, on the day of, our chauffeur was a different driver. No explanation, bellboy just said "different driver." I think the guy got his friend to drive and got a cut of the profits. Highly doubt he ever made that phone call for us. I was skeptical from the start, but Eric has more faith in people than I do. I think it's the lawyer training, hard for me to trust people. I guess this time, my intuition was right.

Not a big deal though, this guy was a good driver. He had a small bladder though, had to stop twice to go to the bathroom. We were worried he'd step on a landmine and we'd be stuck in the countryside of Cambodia. As usual, I fell asleep immediately. Eric, of course, enjoyed taking pictures of me sleeping. He gets some amusement from taking bad pictures of me...I don't get it.

We got to the airport in 4.5 hours, only to be delayed at the airport for awhile. While waiting, we had a plate of spaghetti bolognaise at Angkor Pub. Not sure why I've been on this pasta kick. The pasta was really good. It may have been because we were just plain hungry, but in any event, it hit the spot.

We've arrived in Bangkok. Staying one night at Queen's Garden Hotel in Bangkok near the airport before heading to HK. I would characterize it as an upscale hostel - barebones, but clean. As long as there aren't bugs, I am happy.

Somehow, even while wearing sneakers with socks, I managed to get three ant bites on the bottom of my feet. Girlfriend is not happy.


Day 25 - Bangkok, Thailand - Macau, China - Hong Kong, China

We are exactly 1/3 of the way through our world trip and on flight #10. Surprisingly, we are not yet sick of getting on and off a plane. Today was a little annoying though, because we had to go through immigration three times - Thailand, Macau and Hong Kong.

Day started with a 4:30 wake-up call from the hotel. Then they herded us to the shuttle to take us all to the airport. We were surprised as to how packed the airport was at 5am in the morning. We saw a verbal argument among three Thai men. One jumped the line, the other was already in line but proceeded to check in an entire tour group with about 20 pieces of luggage. The third man was later in line and was not happy about the other two men. Anyhow, the first man who jumped the line decided to just jump to our line instead. We didn't say anything because we assumed he was late for his flight. Then I took a peek at his ticket, his flight was later than ours! Punk. At least he thanked us after the fact for letting him cut the line.

The flight was smooth and uneventful. I fell asleep as usual while Eric played computer games. We landed in Macau and went through immigration because we had to pick up our checked bags. Then, I had the bright idea of asking the information desk as to the best way to get to the port to take the ferry to HK. He mentioned that there was a temporary port within walking distance of the airport. According to him, "ten minutes." Turned out to be more of a 20 minute walk and poor Eric was carrying 12 kg worth of luggage and pulling another 12 kg. Let's just say he was not a happy camper. We will be taking a taxi on the way back.

On the ferry now. It's nice and clean and looks new. It's about an hour ride to HK. Looks a bit rainy outside, hopefully that doesn't last. Meeting up with my Aunt Donna and my cousin Willy for lunch, assuming we can find our way to the meeting point. I'm excited to be back in HK. It's one of my favorite cities to visit. Must take more money out of the ATM....in preparation of all the shopping that will need to be done.

We finally arrived in HK. Met up with Aunt Donna and Cousin Willy in SoHo to check out the apartment we'll be staying out while in HK. It's Uncle George's office - cute little 1BR in the heart of the city. Perfect for us. We quickly dropped off our bags and headed to a nearby wonton noodle place. It was very good! Afterwards, we all parted ways, Willy went to the arcade, Eric went back to the apartment to rest up and me and Aunt Donna went shopping of course. Not a minute to spare! I saw some beautiful dresses, but apparently I know how to pick out the expensive ones, cause the few dresses that caught my eye were $18,000 HKD (~$2250 USD). Ouch! too expensive for my blood.

Afterwards, we had dinner with Aunt Donna, Uncle George and my grandmother. Our dinner at Chuk Yeun in Happy Valley was seafood galore. Boiled shrimp, clams with black bean sauce, ginger and scallion crab, steamed giant clam with fresh garlic, yee mein with crab, and spicy razor clams. We had been looking forward to some good Chinese food on this trip and we finally got it.

Thoroughly stuffed,content and exhausted, we retired early that evening. If we keep up at this rate, we're going to gain 10 lbs by the end of this leg of our trip.

For the pictures of the Days 24 and 25, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5394172357948561249&authkey=Gv1sRgCIeel4ui29-VmAE&feat=email

"Day of Rest and Relaxation" - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 23

After spending the last four days sightseeing, we decided to take it easy and just hang out at the hotel all day. We started out with an elaborate breakfast buffet. There was some asian food like fried rice, congee, and a noodle station with your choice of meats. Then some western food like pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage and eggs cooked to order. Also an assortment of fruits, yogurts, and pastries.

About an hour after breakfast, we hit the gym because it's been a while (and we definitely needed to work off the calories we've been consuming). Then we laid out by the pool for the rest of the day with an occasional dip in the pool. Ahhhh....this is relaxation at its best.

We finally dragged our lazy butts off the lounge chairs when we heard some thunder rumbling. After freshening up, we went to dinner at the pub/lounge in the hotel. There is supposed to be a filipino band playing so we decided to check it out. We were the only ones in the lounge. Anyhow, it was 2 for 1 drinks, so we stuck around and had dinner. Started with french onion soup and caeser salad Angkor version - which included grilled shrimp and bacon. Then we had some calamari and ended with ice cream and banana fritters. I had a mai tai and singapore sling and Theresa had a frozen banana, pineapple, coconut drink.

The "band" finally came on at 7:30. It was a man and a woman and a keyboard. Not much of a band but it was entertaining nonetheless. They started off the set with Paris Hilton's "Stars are Blind". Hahahah, that cracked us up. They sang some Bic Runga and Oasis, and ended with three Ace of Base songs. Theresa was enjoying herself immensely, to the point that the singer even pointed out that Theresa had a "love" of music. "Love", I guess you can call it that.

We are turning in early since tomorrow we have a car coming at 9am to take us back to phnom penh airport. Spending one night in Bangkok then flying out to HK.

For the pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/theresang1977/CambodiaSiemReap3?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqA-KzJmbPbYQ&feat=email#

"It's okay to walk away" - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 22

We wanted to try a different hotel for our last two days in Siem Reap. So we checked out of the Pavillon Indochine and into the Borei Angkor Resort and Spa. It also has a traditonal Cambodian look, clean, classy, and has a large infinity pool. It was nice to have indoor hallways this time. There's little chance of bugs and geckos getting into our room. It also looks like it's catered to Japanese tour groups.

So we dropped off our bags and headed out to the floating village, which was recommended by Pavilion Indochine as a place to viist. It was a nice 30 min ride by tuk tuk. When we arrived, a guy met us in the front and took us to the counter. He said, "You pay here." We asked how much. He said $17 each and the guy next to him laughed. A definite sign that they were trying to rip us off. We told them that our hotel said it costs $12 each. He said the hotel was wrong and that the price has gone up. By $5?? please. We could tell we were getting scammed and wanted no part of it. Plus I don't think we had enough US Dollars to cover it. So we walked away. We looked for our tuk tuk driver and he's already gone. The guys were kind of watching us to see what we would do. I think they expected us to turn back to them because we were stuck there. We refused and decided to just walk around by foot. Luckily, as we started to walk, we spotted our driver around the corner. At this point the scammer said "$25 for both of you". We thought about it for a second, then continued walking. We didn't want to give him the business and the floating village didn't seem all that interesting from our view. As we were leaving, we saw many other tourists heading towards the floating village. Hopefully they were smart enough to walk away as well. Thank goodness our tuk tuk was free, or else that would have been a waste of time and money.

We headed back into town and our driver suggested that we make a pit stop at the Artisans d' Angkor. He made a point to tell us it was free. He must think we're cheap. hahahahah. Here we took a tour and watched art students make Buddhas, Apsaras and animals out of silk, sandstone, soapstone, and wood (mohogany, teak or rubber). Everything had to be so precise and any defects were marked up in black. It was an interesting place. The group finds kids in outlying villages and recruits them to learn a trade. Those that painted silk screens were all deaf and mute and could only communicate by sign language. We were told that these items were not sold locally but sold to Europe, because they were very expensive. We went to the gift shop and ended up buying a few pieces. Now we have a big rock of an elephant we somehow need to figure out how to carry with us on the rest of the trip.

We decided to stay out in Old Market for the evening and had a late lunch at Angkor Palm, a restaurant we had wanted to try that was recommended by Lonely Planet. We had vegetable noodles and local pork rib with honey and a mango shake for Theresa.

We signed up for a cooking class at Le Tigre de Papier, where we had pizza a few nights ago. To pass the time, Theresa got a 30 minute massage and then at 5pm, we went to Le Tigre de Papier for our cooking class.

The chef, Channy, took us to the local market to show us the different spices, herbs, vegetables, fruits, meats and seafood that were available. Some looked tasty, others looked sketch. Afterwards, we went to the roof top of the restaurant where they have an open kitchen. Menu included spicy shrimp salad and amok fish for me and mango salad and loc lac beef for Theresa. Seems like key ingredients in Khmer cooking are chicken powder, pepper, kaffir leaves and kaffir limes, and nuoc moum (fish sauce). For dessert, we made sweet potato in coconut milk and tapioca. Channy was quick, and even taught us how to plate our food with tomato roses and banana leaf baskets. She was good, and the kitchen was clean. There was a lot of food for two people. It was tasty, but a lot of work to cook! We ended up giving the leftover dessert to our tuk tuk driver, Boran/Warren, who took us back to the hotel for the very last time. He was a great guy. We'll miss him and his great service.

When we returned to the hotel, we just beat a tour bus of Japanese tourists. I guess we know why it caters to Japanese people.

On a side note, speaking of Japanese tourists, we forgot to mention that one of the other nights we decided to go to this place called "Angkor Cookies". I had read on trip advisor that it was a good place to go. We went and everyone there started to speak to us in Japanese. We didn't know why. Also, the cookies were really expensive. About $20 a box. We sampled a few and were about to leave when all of a sudden a flood of Japanese tourists came in. I think it's one of the pit stops on a Japanese-led tour. Wow, those Japanese tourists bought up the shop. Each one had a basket and filled it with boxes of cookies and coffee. Hahah, I guess it's not too expensive for some people. I can see why Cambodia caters to Japanese. They know how to spend money!

For the pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/theresang1977/CambodiaSiemReap3?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqA-KzJmbPbYQ&feat=email#

"Angkor Wuuuhhhttt?" - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 21

Today, we had a tour guide take us to the more popular temples including Angkor Wat. Our guide, Saron, formerly worked at the United Nations as a translator. He is now self-employed as a tour guide and also on the board of directors for tour guides. I.e., he was the cream of the crop as far as tour guides go. He was also name dropped in the SF Chronicle and gets lots of California tourists. Usually you have to hire him a month in advance - we got lucky.

Saron and his driver picked us up in an air-conditioned van at 9:30am. Our first stop was Ta Prohm (where they filmed Tomb Raider). Our tour guide got to see Angelina Jolie running through the temple. The temple is really cool with huge trees growing all over parts of the temple. They have been worried about rotting trees falling on the temple so a lot of care is taken to monitor the trees and build scaffolding to prop up trees or cut them down.

After Ta Prohm, we went to Ta Koe, which required a climb up some steep stairs, Victory Gate and the Ancient Bridge, which had demons on one side, gods on the other battling in a tug of war. According to legend, the Gods and Demons were fighting to "churn the milk" in order to produce an elixir that promises eternal life. However, according to legend, before the elixir came out, out sprung a three-headed elephant and five-headed horse. We see these figures everywhere in the architecture.

Last stop before lunch was the Terrace of Elephants, which was the king's court where the king watched polo matches, acrobatics, and other forms of entertainment.

We took a lunch break near our next stop, Angkor Wat. We had bok choy, grilled pork ribs and grilled corn with baby coconut milk. Better lunch than yesterday and it gave us the energy to tackle the the popular Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is surrounded by a huge moat! When we initially saw it, we thought it was a natural lake. It's amazing how they built these massive temples 8-,9-, 10-centuries ago. Luckily, when we went, it wasn't too crowded. Saron told us that tour groups show up at 3pm, so we beat the crowd (It seemed like tourists visiting temples mainly just go to Angkor Wat). Angkor Wat definitely lives up to the hype. It was quite impressive, everything from the five towers to the detailed engravings. Saron told us that before they guarded the ruins, there were a lot of looters that took gems, Buddha heads, and other statues from the temples. At Angkor Wat, you can see remnants of a shoot-out between two rival looting groups. There are bullet holes in the walls and gouged out stones where looters thought treasures were hidden in the walls. Most of the original Buddha heads have been stolen, and most of the remaining have been sent to Siem Reap for storage. Only a few originals are left in the temple, the rest are replicas.

We then headed into Angkor Thom - and at the center of Angkor Thom is the Bayon Temple. It is Saron's favorite and we could see why. There are large faces everywhere on the towers. One face was used on the 200 Riel currency. The engravings were the most interesting as you could understand the stories being told. Some are quite humorous - a man giving a dirty look to a woman who poked him in the butt with a turtle. We had a lot of fun with the faces, as you can see in our pics.

Last stop was Preah Khan. The highlight of Preah Khan were the infinite doorways, they got smaller and smaller as if you were Alice in Wonderland. Even Theresa had to watch her head when entering. There was also a two tiered building with round columns, nicknamed the Acropolis of Cambodia. Like Ta Prohm, there were large trees growing out of the structure.

We were very satisfied with Saron's tour. He was very informative and he really knew the perfect spots for pictures. The service was first class. We were given umbrellas whenever it rained or got too sunny. Each time we returned to the van, the driver provided us with cold wet naps and bottled water. Much needed in this type of weather. We highly recommend his tour. It was informative, fun, and just very comfortable.

After a quick break at our hotel, we went back to the Old Market for dinner at a French/Cambodian restaurant called Le Malraux. We were craving more western food this time, opting for tagliatelle bolognese and a club sandwich (not Cambodian or French). It hit the spot. We could now sleep peacefully.

For the pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/theresang1977/CambodiaSiemReap2?authkey=Gv1sRgCMXZ0aOmos-H1gE#5391749126757436370