9/26 Abaca, nice but not perfect

9/26 Abaca, nice but not perfect

Decided to come and check out the Abaca Resort which is down the
street from the ShangriLa. The HK Cebu flight is a very easy stress
free flight. 9 am flight gets in at 11 am. A very short walk to
immigration and 10 min later you are at the resort. The return flight
leaves at 8 pm so you basically get two full days away from the hustle
in HK

Abaca is a small boutique hotel with 9 rooms only, I prefer this place
for a short weekend vs the shang down the street. The shang attracts
huge groups and the last time I was there I felt more like I was in
Mongkok vs on holiday although the Shang does have excellent seafood!
(it was noisy even while i was in my room!)

Whereas at Abaca at times I felt like being the only guest in the
place! Plus the service was good

My room #2 on the ground floor faced the pool and the ocean facing
cabanas. (it's steps down to the water though no beach) Very spacious
rooms. Spacious Nice bathroom (with no windows) Comfy indoor and
outdoor daybed /lounge area with Jim Thompson cushions Docking
station for ipod, dvd player, wifi access & etc.

They have one restaurant manned by an American chef from HK called
Jadon Hyatt. Food was excellent with a good choice of wines. Had a
very good salad, absolutely kickass delicious garlic steamer clams,
decent beef short ribs. Followed by a generous portion of cheese
plate for dessert Also tried their chickpea hummus, and abaca burger
quality of the food evidenced by fact lots of locals and other non
hotel guests come by!

On the downside, a few Hiccups- though not fatal, took points away
from an almost perfect experience.

• At room2, The sliding doors that looked out to the pool couldn't be
locked ( even after they had four guys to come by to fix it). It
started raining and one of the girls started fetching the pillows and
etc on the outdoor lounge chairs. She literally just opened the
sliding door and walked into my room not realizing that the room was
occupied!! Once she saw me she just stuck the mattress pillow and etc
in my outdoor shower area ( outdoor but covered). Except that as I
could see out from the room to the outdoor shower (just a glass
partition) it was kind of annoying to see "stuff" there.

Anyway back to sliding doors that would not lock. I got an "upgrade"
to the 3rd /top floor to a more expensive room #6 (that felt way
smaller. No outdoor shower, just a balcony with lounge chair, no
ability to just walk the 8 steps into the pool, did have nicer
bathroom with windows and higher ceiling, but i did prefer room 2)

Anyway, room 6 sliding door also did NOT lock, after two more attempts
to fix it betw 3 workers, after they left i realized the glass doors
still didn't lock up (though the wire screen doors did). By then it
was late n I gave up on the whole exercise.

• The girl at the spa miscounted her time ( i had 2 massages totaling
2.5 hr) but she finished after 2. (i do think it was an honest mistake
on her part coz after i was robed up n ready to go i told her and she
was very apologetic and we did continue for 30 min more)

• In room 6 there were water temperature issues with both the shower
and the tub.

But, All in all, a promising place with room for improvement

namibia trip draft

18 Dec CX749 HKG 23:45 JNB 06:35 +1 0 12:50

Sat 19-Dec-09

Johannesburg (JNB)
Depart 9:50 am
Terminal B to Windhoek (WDH)
Arrive 11:50 am 722 mi
Duration: 2hr 0mn
SA Flight: 74

12/19 & 12/20 Okonjima Bush Camp $302x2
12/21, 22 & 23 Onguma safari tented $377x3
12/24 Mowani mtn camp $338
12/25& 26 Hansa $164
12/27 & 12/28 Sossusvlei desert camp $187x2
12/29 & 12/30 Wolwedan dunes lodge $725 per night!! with 3rd night at 50% discount .... SKIP & spend the 2 nights elsewhere????
12/31 Bagatelle kalahari $182

Fri 1-Jan-10

Windhoek (WDH)
Depart 5:20 pm to Johannesburg (JNB)
Arrive 7:15 pm
Terminal A 722 mi
Duration: 1hr 55mn
SA Flight: 77
1/1 & 1/2 in s. af

alternatively if do classic namib tour need to fly in one day earlier (change cx flight to th departure arrive on fri 12/18
and
return flight change to 640 pm departure Windhoek to cape town to Jo'burg (buy air namib windhoek to namib, change return from windhoek jo'burg to cape town to jo'burg

03 Jan CX748 JNB 12:35 HKG 07:05 +1 0 12:30

perth

Oct 23 Fri 1500 - 2245 HK perth
skywest A$800 Perth LEA 0615 arrive 0900
10/24 stay Ningaloo
10/25 stay Ningaloo
10/26 1415-1610 dinner in Perth
10/27 0005-0745 HKG

2009 pushkar camel fair

30 Oct CX695 HKG 22:20 DEL 02:00 +1

Jet Airways
Sat, 31 Oct, 2009 Delhi 05:45 Jaipur 06:30
Sun, 01 Nov, 2009 Jaipur 18:30 Delhi 19:30

01 Nov CX694 DEL 23:55 HKG 07:25 +1 0 5:00

stay at Rambagh palace

namib itin

Day 1 & 2: Windhoek - Okonjima
Today you have about a 3 hr drive north of Windhoek on the B1 road. Your destination is Okonjima and the AfriCat foundation. Apart from the beautiful location, stunning accommodation and wonderful meals the main reason for visiting Okonjima is to view cats. Your activities here are included in this package and centre around viewing leopard & cheetah, visiting a night hide and generally learning about what the AfriCat foundation is doing to preserve these wonderful animals.
Meals: Brunch & Dinner
Accommodation: Okonjima Bush Camp
Day 3: Waterberg - Etosha
Leaving Waterberg return to the main B1 road and continue your journey northwards via Otjiwarongo, Otavi & Tsumeb and then enter Etosha Park via the von Lindequist Gate (on the eastern side of the park, near Namutoni). From here it is an 80km drive to Halali where you will be spending the night, this drive could easily take you several hours as game is plentiful in Etosha and the chances are you will be constantly stopping to view animals. If time allows consider dropping in at some of the waterholes along the route as animals frequently visit these for a drink.
Whatever happens remember you need to be inside the Halali gates before sunset - and speeding, the park speed limit is 60km/h, is strictly not allowed within the park.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: ONGUMA TENTED CAMP
Day 4 & 5: Etosha Park
It is really worth waking early and heading out on your game drive as soon as the gates open at sunrise. Animals are most active in the cool of the day (early morning & late afternoon) and in order to maximise your chances of good viewings it is worth imitating their behaviour. The roads in Etosha are unsealed gravel roads but are in reasonable condition - and the general tourist behaviour is to drive between various waterholes searching for animals.
As the day gets hotter head for shade, and lunch, at one of the parks three camps, Okaukuejo, Namutoni or Halali. When things start to cool down again head out for another game drive. With two full days in the park you should have sightings of most of the parks inhabitants (although be warned the cats are notoriously hard to find - and of course what you see is determined by luck and more importantly your ability to spot wildlife). These nights will be spent at Okaukuejo Camp, the western most camp in Etosha, it is famous for a very popular (both with tourist and the local animal population) spot-lit waterhole.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Okaukuejo
Day 6: Etosha - Damaraland
Hopefully by now you will have seen everything the park has to offer and are ready to move on. From today onwards the geographical features you encounter will become more striking as you head into the Namib Desert.
Leaving Etosha via the Anderson gate head south to the Town of Outjo and from there westwards to Khorixas. Those interested in geological matters may be inclined to take the short detour from the main road to visit the Vingerklip (Rock Finger). From Khorixas continue westwards until you reach the Petrified Forest, here you will need to pay for a local guide to show you the remains of million year old petrified tree trunks (interesting, if not exactly riveting stuff). Luckily the highlight of this part of the trip is still to come - from here head to Twyfelfontein, this world heritage site has an extremely high density of bushmen rock engravings. After hiring a local guide you will be shown some of the more striking of these petroglyphs.
Your accommodation tonight is at a lodge close to Twyfelfontein
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Doro Nawas Lodge
Day 7: Damaraland - Swakopmund
A short drive followed by a slightly longer walk will bring you to the 'White Lady' rock painting. For many years it was speculated that this Bushman painting was a depiction of a European woman (it seems to have escaped those doing the speculating that the drawing was done thousands of years before Europeans visited the southern part of Africa, and even more worryingly close inspection of the drawing seems to indicate it is not female!)
From the Brandberg you begin driving towards the coast, and after 130km jarring kilometers (this road is often very corrugated) you will arrive at Henties Bay. Here turn northwards along the Skeleton Coast and head for the seal colony at Cape Cross. Despite this being one of the smelliest places in Namibia the seals make for a fascinating time. when your senses can no longer take the pungent smell of seal hop back in your car and drive down the coast, back through Henties Bay and then a further 70km to Swakopmund. On arrival in check into your accommodation before heading out for a drink, dinner and a night on the town.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hansa Hotel
Day 8: Swakopmund
There are a host of adventure activities to participate in while in Swakopmund. These range from sandboarding through quad biking to sky-diving. No activities are included in this package but they can be pre-arranged when you book this itinerary or left for you to arrange on arrival is Swakopmund
Being a German inspired town good food and beer is never hard to find, so we are sure you will find something productive to do!
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hansa Hotel
Day 9: Swakopmund - Sossusvlei
Leave Swakopmund towards the harbour town of Walvis Bay, the lagoon here attracts a lot of marine & birdlife and is well worth a visit to view the pink flamingoes. You may decide to take a catamaran cruise on the lagoon (not included in package price). Today you have a drive of around 300km's which will take you around 4-5 hours. Your route will take you across the gravel plains of the Namib Desert and through the Kuiseb & Gaub passes. Aim to arrive at your accommodation in the late afternoon
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Desert Homestead
Day 10: Sossusvlei
Wake up early and leave your lodge, heading for the Sesriem entrance gate to the Namib Naukluft Park. This gate only opens at sunrise, so there is no point arriving earlier, but driving the 60km from Sesriem through the dunes towards Sossusvlei while the sun rises is a real pleasure. The first major dune you will encounter goes by the imaginative name of Dune 45 - many people choose to stop and climb this dune but we suggest you continue onwards towards Sossusvlei. Park at the the 2x4 car park (unless you have a 4x4 vehicle this is as far as you can drive), Sossusvlei is a further 4km from here but you are already amongst fairly large dunes. The walk along the dry river bed into Sossusvlei is lovely but for the very unfit or terminally lazy there are 4x4 shuttles from the car park to Sossusvlei.
Deadvlei, so named because it is a large pan with sculptural dead trees, is close by and definitely worth a visit. When you have had enough sand - head back to your vehicle (there really is no shame in taking the shuttle back - the sand is likely to be hot, and the walk less pleasant than the one in the cool of the morning)
On your way back to the lodge stop at the Sesriem Canyon - follow the signs from the Sesriem Campsite.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Desert Homestead
Day 11 & 12: Sossusvlei - klein Aus Vista
Leaving the Sossusvlei area today you drive south along the edge of the Namib Naukluft Park with Luderitz as your ultimate destination. The district D707 road is seldom used but amongst those in the know is thought of as one of the most scenic drives in Namibia. Eventually you will reach a tarred road again at the small village of Aus. This area is well known for it's wild horses of the Namib. You will spend two nights at a lodge near Aus from where you can do a day trip to Luderitz or just spend the time exploring this beautiful area.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: little kulala
Day 13: Klein Aus Vista - Bagatelle
Leaving Aus you begin your drive eastwards. At the town of Seeheim head south towards the Fish River Canyon. The viewpoint at Hobas offers a spectacular view over the canyon, but to be honest once you have seen the canyon there is not a lot more to do in the area so you continue your journey northwards back towards Windhoek. Tonight's stop is in the Kalahari Desert, characterised by small red dunes this is a stunning area.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Bagatelle Kalahari Lodge
day 14: Windhoek
It is a fairly quick drive from here to Windhoek, so you can spend the morning exploring the area before heading back to the capital of Namibia. Those flying out can drop their car at the airport and we can arrange accommodation in Windhoek for any

uluru

Sat 24 Oct 09 09:30 Sydney 11:40 Ayers Rock (Uluru) QF728 3h 40m

Mon 26 Oct 09 12:30 Ayers Rock (Uluru) 17:00 Sydney QF729 3h 00m

Nightmare flight on my normally fav airline

Just got off a CX flight that was 15 hr delayed causing me to miss a day of work and flew into HK in typhoon 8 weather + arrived HK then realized my luggage didn't make the flight even though I checked in 3 hr before the flight!

Hunter valley 9/12/09 weekend

Hunter valley 9/12/09 weekend
Have a crush on Australia. Is it because I miss northern Cal? Or that
I just realized that only after an eight hour redeye flight away from
HK since I can sleep, albeit not very comfortably, curled up in one to
two econ class seats. Yet the end result is two full weekend days
spent on open roads.* Yes I miss driving. Fresh air. Decent food.
Relaxed and laidback local vibe. So much open space. Beautiful
scenery, so far from HK, yet a LA/SF weekend without the SF jetlag.

Lovedale in Hunter valley is a mere two hours glorious drive from
Sydney airport. Once you are on the national highway, the difficult
thing to do is to keep your eyes on the road, so easy to start
speeding and catch the eyes of the highway petrol instead, especially
after being in a semi meditative state - combo of jetlag and music
( own CDs)

Arrived at tonic hotel. Felt more like a friends/relative's place as
there is no check in check out. You get in via a code and that's it.
Very easy. I love not having to worry about the hotel key ( been
infuriated one time too many by card keys that stop working for no
reason) The room was really cold in the morning and the hotwater at
the sink didn't work ( til much later) so my first impression of the
place was not a wow. But the room faced southwest so by the afternoon
the room really lit up with the sun basically warming up the whole
room & i even got used to the farm smell (there are cute cows in front
of my room, though at a distance.) I liked the idea of being able to
heat up your own breakfast in the morning without having to see anyone
else. The rooms all have an outdoor area. Mine unfortunely was
sandwiched between 2 other rooms and since we all can see each other
through the wooden screens. There's not much privacy to speak if we
all decided to hang out at the same time. And yes did especially since
even at 9 in the morning there were still kangaroos hopping around
(and this time I didn't need a guide to tell me that since they were't
miles away) I was quite upset at myself for not having my zoom camera
with me. If not for the cute wild roos, then for the abundant birdlife.

Tried out three restaurants while here, the leaves and fishes with its
own pond of fishes. Very good vibe, super relaxing and very nicely
decorated-was definitely my fav. Also went to Roberts next to Towers
Estate- part of the restaurant was built 140 years ago, & majors lane-
Outdoor dining next to the vineyard. Less crowded vs the other places

The only vineyard ( other than restaurant with vineyards like majors
lane and roberts that serves Towers Estate) I made it to was the
Audrey Wilkinson. Great shiraz.

What a great way to end the weekend. At a lovely restaurant by
(boathouse on blackwattle bay) at a corner table overlooking the bay.

It was a nice though more conjested drive where mom called up to say
what? She was like...You are in Australia again? it's pretty bad eh.
Three weekends in the past month in Australia. Should I just move
back to California??!!

*I mean, am taking a day off on October 2nd for the Oct 1st 4 day
weekend but going to have only 3 full days in Bali (due to the flight
schedule) vs the 2 full days I get in Oz land without taking anytime
off on a normal weekend.

8/15/09 pushing the envelope or as good as it gets??

8/15/09 pushing the envelope or as good as it gets??

Only 730 pm in hk but ready to pass out.
Actually been ready to pass out since last night but my getting older body doesn't sleep very well in econ seats anymore. 8 hr in an econ seat, Half awake and a surreal first time drive /reliance on a gps telling me 1/2 the time to slowdown, arrived at Katoomba's lilianfels 2 hr after landing and promptly passed out briefly after breakfast

Great scenery 5 min from here at Echo Point Very touristy and Disneylike with paved walkway, skyways, rail, cablecar. And really REALLY loud groups of Asians. Esp the Chinese and the Koreans. But nevertheless had almost an equal number and no less egregious groups of birds. Saw the blown up versions of HK mid level white cockatoos chubby crimson red parrots and etc.

Haha if I afford to fly biz all the time I could come and spend every weekend in Australia! Even winter is not sooo bad. 20 celsius with sun was very pleasant. Real estate away from the cities are affordable, laid back locals, fresh produce, maybe I should convince my bro and his better half to move to Australia vs the other way around. (she's moved to hk).

Unlike flying to La or Sf where i end up not only with one free day only + 16 hr time difference. Here time diff only 2 hr for same cost to phuket/bali and 2 whole days

As good as it gets

8/22/09 HATE air china

8/22/09 HATE air china
Air china musings
Am never putting myself on another air china flight

Just landed and was asleep half the time (thanks to all the free champagne in the cathay pacific lounge) but pretty funny watching how inexperienced and yet eager to please the air stewarts were. It's like they are all young sweet summer interns with no training. Not very competent and if already a bit like a flock of headless chicks on a normal flight, what if something did happen? Also pretty amazing the types of luggage they let u bring on board and just leave in the space where your legs would be normally

Have never liked the new bj airport, nicely designed it is yet it always feels handicapped. Every single arrival has always had some type of minor issue that'd delay the process. So the simple process of getting off a flight to getting to a cab easily takes 40 min whereas in hk it'd take 10.

The only savings grace is that the cabride into town takes 30 min max vs the 1 hr for shanghai

8/23/09
Leaving is not that much easier. The airport is not air conditioned properly. Pre flight, Only way to go from one terminal to another is by bus. There are not enough escalators to take passengers between the different floors. Armed with boarding pass, The inter terminal trains take forever to arrive, and while one pays a full cathay fare, the code share air china = u don't get air china lounge access nor priority check in. U can trek over to the dragon air lounge sans invitation though. The worst part-
Flights NEVER seem to be on time.

Atacama Chile

HK to CALAMA
Price per adult inclusive of taxes and fees: HKD 25,278

Outbound Hong Kong (HKG) - Calama (CJC)

Departs: Fri 18 Dec 09 20:10
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 17:15
Economy - 3 stops - Total travel time: 32 hrs 05 mins
Leg 1 Hong Kong (HKG) - Sydney (SYD)
QANTAS AIRWAYS
QF0128
Departs: Fri 18 Dec 09 20:10
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 08:10

Leg 2 Sydney (SYD) - Santiago De Chile (SCL)
LAN AIRLINES
LA0800
Departs: Sat 19 Dec 09 09:55
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 12:10

Leg 3 Santiago De Chile (SCL) - Calama (CJC)
LAN AIRLINES
LA0154
Departs: Sat 19 Dec 09 15:10
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 17:15

Inbound Calama (CJC) - Hong Kong (HKG)

Departs: Fri 01 Jan 10 19:50
Arrives: Sun 03 Jan 10 14:50

Calama (CJC) - Santiago De Chile (SCL)
LAN AIRLINES
LA0155
Departs: Fri 01 Jan 10 19:50
Arrives: Fri 01 Jan 10 21:50

Santiago De Chile (SCL) - Sydney (SYD)
LAN AIRLINES
LA0801
Departs: Fri 01 Jan 10 23:10
Arrives: Sun 03 Jan 10 07:30

Sydney (SYD) - Hong Kong (HKG)
CATHAY PACIFIC
CX0110
Departs: Sun 03 Jan 10 08:35
Arrives: Sun 03 Jan 10 14:50

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
HKG to SANTIAGO ONLY

Outbound Hong Kong (HKG) - Santiago De Chile (SCL)
CATHAY PACIFIC
CX0111, LA0800

Departs: Fri 18 Dec 09 19:05
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 12:10
Economy - 2 stops - Total travel time: 28 hrs 05 mins

Leg 1 Hong Kong (HKG) - Sydney (SYD)
CATHAY PACIFIC
CX0111
Departs: Fri 18 Dec 09 19:05
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 07:15

Leg 2 Sydney (SYD) - Santiago De Chile (SCL)
LAN AIRLINES
LA0800
Departs: Sat 19 Dec 09 09:55
Arrives: Sat 19 Dec 09 12:10

Inbound Santiago De Chile (SCL) - Hong Kong (HKG)

LAN AIRLINES
LA0801, QF0087

Departs: Fri 01 Jan 10 23:10
Arrives: Sun 03 Jan 10 21:15

Economy - 2 stops - Total travel time: 35 hrs 05 mins
Leg 1 Santiago De Chile (SCL) - Sydney (SYD)

LAN AIRLINES
LA0801

Departs: Fri 01 Jan 10 23:10
Arrives: Sun 03 Jan 10 07:30

Leg 2 Sydney (SYD) - Hong Kong (HKG)
QANTAS AIRWAYS
QF0087
Departs: Sun 03 Jan 10 14:55
Arrives: Sun 03 Jan 10 21:15

HKD 22,454 (inclusive of HKD 354 tax)

visit also Easter Island

Marin

stay
Manka's inverness lodge @ 30 Callendar Way Inverness
mankas.com $215 incl breakfast

Nick's cove & cottages 23240 hwy 1, Marshall
695 incl breakfast, 105 dinner/2

Olema Druids
9870 hwy 1
Olema
$210 incl breakfast

Olema Inn & restaurant 10000 si francis drake
Olema
theolemainn.com $198 incl breakfast, $90/2

eat
Cowgirl creamery 80 4th st, point reyes station
drakes bay family farms 17171 sir francis drake blvd, inverness
drakes beach cafe 1 drakes beach road, inverness $100/2
hog island oyster co 20215 rte 1, Marshall
Marshall store & oyster bar 19225 hwy 1, marshall $40/2
tomales bay oyster co 15479 hwy marshall

see Point Reyes Nat'l Seashore 1 bear valley road, point reyes station

Yountville

Hotels
Bardessono hotel
Hotel luca
Bottega 6525 washington st $88/2
Girard winery 6795 washington st
Ma(i)sonry napa valley 6711 washington (boutique)

Capetown

Hotels
~ hotel missoni & radisson blu waterfront on beachroad, Granger Bay
~ www.daddylonglegs.co.za
Www.granddaddy.co.za

Food
Www.95keerom.com
Birds cafe 127 bree street
Www.carne-sa.com
Depasco 8 kloof street
Www.thekove.co.za
Manna epicure 151 kloof st
Fork 84 long street www.fork-restaurants.co.za
Www.novarestaurant.co.za

in the wine country stay at
http://www.hawksmoor.co.za/Framework/Index.asp?PagerName=Home