...And Up Close

This is a little harbor on the east side of Hong Kong Island. This is where we began our attempt to climb the mountains of Hong Kong. Why at the one place where you are guaranteed not to be one a mountain? We asked the cab to take us hiking (after several attempts at asking him to take us somewhere more particular) and ended up at the Museum of Coastal Defense. Rather than waste time getting driven somewhere else we couldn't hike, we decided to just walk towards the mountains and hope for the best. The island is mostly covered in mountains, so it shouldn't be that hard.

After a little effort, we finally made it. And by effort, I mean, withstanding the complaints from the person pictured above. And by a little, I mean, a lot. That was a very satisfying "I told you so" when she was ecstatic about the scenery. There were little treats scattered about, as well. Heather is sitting next to a little shrine with incense for passers-by.

The trails were a well-worn, but cozy. It was a great combination for trail running. If only we had started sooner, we could have gotten a real workout.

We didn't do too bad, though. From here you can see down to the bay where the first photograph was taken. It seems like a long way, but it isn't that far. We could have gone a lot further.

These are the apartment buildings we passed on our way to the mountain trails. They are all extremely tall. It's no surprise that Hong Kong houses about half of the 100 tallest residential buildings in the world. These aren't luxury apartments, either. This was not a neighborhood I would want to live in. Maybe I've just been spoiled by the immaculate conditions of Tokyo.

This was the view in the other direction. As you can see, plenty of room to roam. And as you can also see, the pollution leaves no place untouched.

This was the great complement to our workout. These are the Xiao Long Bao that Hedy addicted me to in Shanghai. They are so delicious. In 3 Chinese meals we had 7 orders of these. I hadn't had good Chinese food in so long. I couldn't get enough. It was such a relief to not be charged an arm and a leg like in Tokyo. I could finally eat to my stomach's content. Food probably costs less than half as much in Hong Kong, along with just about everything else. Cheap food and cabs make it a great city to visit, but with the Tokyo-range rent prices, maybe not so great a place to live.

This is a view of a typical street around Hong Kong. This picture was taken near Spencer's apartment and near where we hung out. This area felt a little more cramped than the rest of the city. It wasn't uncomfortable, though.

Well, that was until this. This was a bathrooms of one of the places where we hung out for a bit. I didn't think anything of it until I couldn't get in. I am certain that someone much bigger than me would have to use the urinal from where you see me standing.

This was a hookah bar we went to with Spencer, his girlfriend, and her friend. That is Spencer in the background. This is the second time Heather has seen Spencer since she was 7, and I was with her the last time she saw him. It's fun because we're getting to know some of her family, together.

I had a great time in Hong Kong and would love to go back, but right now my sights are set on Thailand.

Hong Kong at a Glance

I haven't posted as frequently as usual the past couple weeks. I'm going to blame it on our recent trip to Hong Kong. We had to leave the country for a few days since we don't have Japanese visas, yet. We figured we might as well visit Heather's cousin, Spencer, given the opportunity. He is working as an investment banker and living on Hong Kong Island.


This is a picture of the area where he works and lives from the other side of the harbor. The tall building to the right was in the new Batman movie, and the second tallest building, in the middle, is I.M. Pei's Bank of China building.


This is a picture of the sun coming up over the east side of Hong Kong Island, where there are more residential buildings.

There is a walk of fame along the harbor that is similar to Hollywood's walk of fame, but scaled down and all but completely missing camera-bearing tourists...

This was one of my favorite parts of Hong Kong. Bruce Lee is one of the most intriguing people I've ever read about. It was fun to see his statue on the walk of fame. I read that the building in the background can be disassembled and reassembled elsewhere relatively easily.

Bruce Lee!

Grey's Depressing Anatomy--Hilarious

While some of you may watch the show, Grey's Anatomy, I watch the show, Heather Watching Grey's Anatomy. Your show is a drama, but mine is a comedy. I could not have imagined Grey's Anatomy being worth the cost, but I am clearly just not that creative. It has created a show for even me to watch. I will show you a an excerpt from the show so you can see what I mean. Below is a particularly hilarious part of the show:

I think what's happening here is Heather is watching some doctor losing a patient, or dropping a kidney on the floor, or discovering the difficulties of workplace romance. My bet would be on the first one, because that can be particularly poignant.

Booyah! I was right. I can't wait until next week's episode. I hear Heather might watch some doctor learn some lesson in humility, or something.

In case you're worried about her brain, don't be. Above is a cross-section of the other half of her brain. It's a nice contrast. The collision of the two halves provides endless entertainment.

PS - No Heathers were harmed in the making of this show, or blog. Consent to share this information was verbal, and implied by not putting your hand up in front of your face while I took your picture, so please don't sue or bite me.

Costco Japan: Where Immoderate Moderation Meets Inefficient Efficiency

Heather first told me that there was a nearby Costco several weeks ago. For a while, we tried to plan a way to take advantage of it. We finally decided to take the subway and bring my rolling suitcase. While trying to find which subway lines to take to get there, I realized that there were not only many Costco stores in the area, but they were all at about the same inconvenient distance for a subway ride. Heather didn't seem to be into the arduous journey, and I'm even less thrilled about wasting the day to go shopping.

Even though the nearest Costco would have been a pain to travel to by subway, it wasn't too bad of a bike ride. It was about 20 km away on a very simple and direct route. I noticed that their website mentioned they had a delivery service, so I took a chance. Just in case I couldn't use their delivery service, I brought a duffel bag. I have small duffel bag that conveniently has straps on the bottom so you can wear it as a backpack. It's one of those features where you say, "Wow! How useful," but never end up using it. After 6 years of owning the bag, the feature finally proved itself.

This is a bridge I crossed along the way. The Costco was only about 2km beyond this bridge. You may not be able to tell, but the area on the other side of the bridge is a little more industrial. A fitting place for a Costco, I suppose.


When I got there, it closely resembled any other Costco. The only differences were the nationality of the clientele, and the language of the translations. Even when I applied for membership, I ended up being served by a guy from San Francisco who went to school at BU. That's hitting pretty close to home.

I shouldn't say those were the only differences, they were just the most immediate ones. Japanese moderation had also worked its way into Costco. It ended up being a nice balance. I get a discount and won't have to go shopping as often, but we can still fit the things we purchase in our apartment, barely. Let's just say, the drawers we recently discovered under our bed are now used as food storage.


Another subtle difference might be the items that are sold. It was mostly stuff you would find in an American Costco, but there were a lot of exceptions. Above is the most obvious exception that I noticed. An un-chilled bag of orange "Fish Stick." With a name like that, you'd expect something more like this in Japan: http://www.japanwindow.com/images/20050803052614_050725_nagano-fish0.jpg.

I haven't been to a Costco in a while, so I don't know if food stands are that normal, but I'm sure glad they have them. After a 20 km bike ride in the city, I'm going to stop at every stand at least once, unless they're serving "Fish Stick." The stand above was serving mangoes. They were delicious, but cost $4 each. That's still not a bad price for Japan.

The trip worked out perfectly. I could use the delivery service, but they wouldn't deliver quickly perishing items. My duffel bag ended up being just big enough to carry those. Now, the hard part would be getting home. Riding 20 km with 20 kg on your back isn't completely trivial. I had gotten a flat on the way to the store and replaced it with my last tube. On the ride home, every noticeable bump made me cringe with fear, but I made it home just fine.

Above is the view from the bridge going in the other direction. Things to notice in the picture: a railing so clean that it's very reflective; a decorative sidewalk, which is very smooth and clean; and some noticeable pollution. They really do a good job of keeping the city pleasant despite the crowding.

Things are nice, but sometimes it's too much. This was how they packed the Costco delivery. It was very nicely packed, which leaves me with a good feeling when I think about my last shopping experience in America. Some woman tossed a can of beans on top of a package of raspberries, the only thing in the bag at that moment. There are times when things are clearly done with too little care in America. They tend to go in the other direction here. Despite the comfort of knowing that the bag of chips you see in the picture isn't crushed, even slightly, it is annoying to have to spend 10 minutes unpacking this box.

It was a great move to start putting olive oil in plastic bottles. I have dropped a full bottle of olive oil on the floor, and the pain of the instant flashback to holding the plastic bottle in one hand and the glass bottle in the other, weighing my options, was enough to justify the future purchase of plastic. The ensuing clean-up of glass and oil just sealed the deal. It also seems logical to shrink wrap two bottles together. But to, then, wrap that package in several layers of cellophane seems a little overboard; especially when you only have dull knives around the house.

No biggie; yay for Costco, yay for Japan, yay for bikes, and double yay for double food.

Hell and Back

I decided to go for a ride yesterday to actually challenge myself and get a better taste of what the Thailand trip is going to feel like. Erdem said he was going to go for four continuous hours, so I decided on three hours once I got to the river, which should come out to about four hours total. As soon as I left the house, I knew I was in for a painful ride. There were strong gusts of wind even by our apartment in the city. I knew the river was going to be grueling, but it was the only place I could go for some open ground.

I stopped at the bike shop beforehand to pick up some more tubes. I used my last tube this week and did not want to get stuck 30 miles away from home with no cash. After that, I headed to the river. As expected, it was windy, in the wrong direction. I started out biking into 20 mph head winds. That is the one thing that makes biking no fun to me. But I had to keep going.

Things only got worse from there. The wind was only getting stronger. Wind seems to make everything hurt more. My calves felt twinges of cramping, both feet took turns cramping, my back was aching, and I was only 30 minutes into the ride along the river. The only thought that kept me going was that the ride back was going to be a piece of cake. Even that thought started to fade as I saw the sun getting low. I knew the winds would calm down at some point. The thought of not going head-first into the wind was still enough to keep me going.

After about two and a half hours I decided I was too hungry to just turn around and go back. I had to find food if I was going to make it home. I turned off of the river and looked for anything. I made it to a 7-11, but alas, they do not take American credit cards. I was not feeling well, and was getting desperate. I headed for some big buildings I saw nearby, assuming I would have better luck there. And I did. I found a Lawson, which is now my go-to convenience store because they take Amex.

I couldn't resist getting faux-Pringles and ice cream sandwiches. I knew I needed salt and calories, although I probably could have picked something better. I sat out back and had my ~2500 calorie meal feeling pretty happy. The sun was getting low, and there was a lot more open space this far out.

This was the view from behind the store. There were a lot of farms, but not the kind you'd expect in the US. There were a lot of small farms, that seemed they might actually only be for personal use. This was one of the bigger farms.

While I was behind the store, a fellow cyclist, who had seen me in the store, came out back to talk. He didn't speak much English, but enough to have a chat. It was a pleasant break, but with my stomach full, it was time to head back.

This was the best view of the entire trip. It was where I got off of the river to find some food, and where I started my journey home. As you can see, the farther you get away from Tokyo, the more that baseball and soccer fields become golf courses. They equally shared the river banks with farm land out here. There are many nicely-paved bike paths out here. It is not something I would expect to find in the US. Below is a short video I took in one section that, I assume, had a golf course on one side and farm land on the other. I couldn't take a picture while I was riding because it would be blurry and I didn't want to stop.

The tail winds were great on the ride back, for a while. My average speed went from 23 kph to 40 kph. But that slowly dwindled. As the sun was setting, the winds were dying. My average speed worked it's way down to 35 kph. At that point, I was 20-30 km from my exit off of the river, and the winds started to change direction. I was hitting a wall at this point. Not only was I physically drained, but emotionally. My main motivation to keep pedaling was to prevent my legs from cramping, which would happen if I stopped. I didn't think I could make it home, without stopping. At this point, I reconsidered the entire trip to Thailand. This was only half of one day of my trip. There was no way I could do this twice in one day. And what was I going to do on day two?

Just as I was at my worst point, the winds finally stopped. Riding in neutral wind was much easier. My feet were numb and my legs were still cramping, but it was a much more peaceful cramping than before. I, at least, thought I could probably make it home without stopping, which I did. It ended up being about a 5 hour, 120 km ride. I think without the wind it would have been a four hour ride or 145km. It would have also been less painful and tiring.

When I got home it was time to eat. I can't remember the last time I ate like that. I made a full ~1750 calorie dinner and ate it easily. After a couple hours of rest, I was starving again. I made another ~1000 calorie meal. I would go broke if I worked out like this regularly. My appetite finally slowed down this morning. I've had ~1250 calories and am finally not getting hungry again.

All things considered, I think the trip is do-able. There's going to be more eating than even I thought, and it will be a little more physically draining, but I think we can still do it. That is, as long as there isn't a head wind. If there is, I'm just going to hop on a bus.