Hue (it's raining)

Someone on a travel forum said that this journal is boring. My response: "Thanks for the comment. It's what happens when you get old, if you're lucky: just happy to be alive, happy to be with your wife, happy to be in Vietnam again ... simple needs, simple pleasures, laying up treasures where moth and rust don't corrupt." Here are the Hue photos. Photo below: Street of dreams (speaking of simple needs)

In the Hanoi airport we talked with a pleasant couple from Germany. At some point the man said he hoped it wouldn't be raining in Hue. I didn't say so, but I thought that I hoped it would be raining in Hue. It's winter and it's Hue and I love the rain in Hue. And of course it was raining when we landed – ahhhh, Hue.

The ride into town from Phu Bai Airport was as always, a panorama of mossy temples, shrines, and other religious structures interspersed

among the usual open-fronted stores selling pretty much the same old stuff, then a few markets, then bigger and bigger buildings, modern ones and the smaller stores and the motos, bicycles and cyclos (more than in Hanoi or Saigon), cars, trucks, but nowhere near the congestion of Hanoi or Saigon. It feels so good being in this place. Then turning left from Hung Vuong on to Nguyen Tri Phuong and pulling up to the alley where the Binh Duong and other budget hotels and cafes are. We're here! Get a room ($18 for triple – none of the doubles working for us). Drop our bags, step across the way to

Cafe on Thu Wheels for some soup, noodles, garlic bread, and beer with U2 on the sound system – a backpacker cafe – banana pancakes for me soon. Photo: An Cuu Market

Back in the room, listening to a live recording of the Wave Farmers album, a psychedelic trio (electronic drums, synth, violincello) playing at Soul Rise. Perfect for Hue. Going to see them, be danced by them again in March at Mannafest.

Email to Jim: Yes, the journey continues well. I was lying on the bed yesterday (a rainy day) with moderate abdominal pain and maybe a little fever, in kind of a daze, staring at the art deco-ish light fixtures and the detailing on the ceiling and windows – happy me (except for the tail end of a sinus infection, a broken off crown, abdominal pain & fever - and

also that I seem to be talking more and more about physical ailments - at least it's not bowel-related – give me a few years). Hue is waaay slower than Hanoi. I love it here. Feeling good today ...

Photo: Our alley - Binh Duong Hotel on right, Thu's on left

We took cyclos to Cho An Cuu, a big market by a small river. This market is very different than the heavily-touristed Dong Ba Market (on the Perfume River) with its aggressive over-charging vendors. Leslie bought some more peppercorns and we furnished some comic relief for several vendors. From there we walked to the Big C department store, checking it out (getting jiggy again), had lunch at a little cafe inside: Banh cuon, salad, nem, and peanuts. I was starting to feel pretty bad by now, so we left, cyclo back to hotel where I lay on the bed for a few hours. Had some yogurt for dinner, feeling better, slept hard that night. Photo: Leslie buying pepper

I fixed coffee in the room (Trung Nguyen #4) and we had our usual leisurely morning, then walked to Nina's Cafe for an excellent omelet and cafe sua da (35,000 dong – about $1.70USD) and comfortable chairs. http://ninascafe.jimdo.com/ Then to the Family Home Cafe for Leslie to try their egg sandwich – another good one, but the chairs are uncomfortable (Asia, the land of uncomfortable chairs).

Photo below: Coffee in the room

We walked across the Trang Tien Bridge over the wide Perfume River to

a supermarket to get some yogurt, then back across and southwest for a pretty long walk on Le Loi to Dien Bien Phu Street to a place named Quan Tai Phu that's well known for nem lui (grilled pork on lemon grass). When we got there I went to the toilet – through the kitchen and a short passageway that was (no kidding) 18” wide with loose tiles on the floor and into the squat toilet room about 3.5'x3.5' where all sorts of newly laundered clothes were hanging so that I was peeing with someone's damp clothing on my shoulders. When I got back to the eating area, they'd brought our unordered food (and no idea of the cost). The server showed us what/how to put the various vegetables on the rice paper and then the pork, and then some weird looking and very tasty dark viscous sauce. I think there were 12 pork things, all for 50,000 dong ($2.50USD). Wow! Sooner or later we're going to get over-charged (and needless to say, we bargain firmly with cyclo drivers) but so far, things are working out well for us in Vietnam. Here is the food blog that describes nem lui (page down a few times) http://theworldtastesgood.blogspot.com/2009/02/hue-part-3.html.

Sunday: After a banana pancake breakfast (with honey and yogurt - see Photo above) and

not forgetting a glass of very strong cafe sua and a few minutes later splitting an omelet/baguette sandwich, we took a riverboat cruise for 100,000VND (Leslie's bargaining acumen) to Thien Mu Pagoda, 45 minutes up the perfume river. This where the monk Thich Quang Duc lived before he went to Saigon in 1966 to immolate himself in protest against the VN government and the war. The pagoda and grounds were quietly beautiful – understated and mossy with just a few people around and a view from the grounds across the wide river, past the plains, to these mist-covered mountains where we fought and bled, where so many from every side fought and bled and died, aching for life – me for a beautiful dark-haired girl whose photo was so washed out from the water that only the shadow of her left eye was left and now, 45 years later, looking across the room from where I write she's sitting on the bed, the love of my life, beautiful, her hair white now and here we are in Hue and I look out through the glass-paned doors toward palm trees and mossy buildings - it's misting in Hue.

Photo above: Random lane; photo below: These mist-covered mountains beyond the Perfume River - photo taken from Thien Mu Pagoda

Aes Dana, Summerlands ... then Vibrasphere, Forest Fuel … Aes Dana, Les Grandes Fonds … Solar Fields, Summer … Hue, misting, humid, green Hue, perfect for psytrance.

We walked along a quiet section of the riverside, then along Le Loi Street and back to the nem lui place, and added a bowl of bun thit nuong – grilled pork with cool noodles, vegetables, peanuts, and nuoc cham with, what else, chillies. Every morning we've marveled at our lack of GI distress. We hope for the same thing tomorrow.

Monday: We had another late start, coffee in bed, talking, and finally to Nina's Cafe for an excellent backpacker's tradition – banana pancake (with honey and yogurt) and more stout

coffee, then we walked along the Perfume River again and over the new bridge to the Citadel side of the river and wandering down side streets through neighborhoods in the soft mist for a little over three hours – more overgrown green, more mossy walls, gates into houses, tin roofs, tile roofs, shrines, incense, women with conical hats, past a school with children playing in the street – “Hello! What your name! Yo-yo-yo!” Bicycles, motos, xyclos, fruit and vegetables for

sale, coffee/tea shops with stools at low tables, cafes, and finally through a gate in the huge wall, across a narrow bridge over the moat, into shops and to the old

bridge in the mist that's a light rain by now. It was really raining by the time we got to Nina's for banh khoai – kind of like a fried pancake folded over pork and shrimp – cut it into strips and wrap them into rice paper with steamed bean sprouts, cucumbers, lettuce and dipped into nuoc mam-based peanut sauce. Back to our room that's been damp the whole time we've been here, and damper now. We're pretty damp too. LOL, our clothes
are damp, our bodies are damp, our books are damp (the pages are kind of wavy, if you know what I mean), our bed is damp – it's damp … it couldn't be better.

Photo: Nina in front of Nina's Cafe

Hanoi 2012

Hanoi was a resting place for us this time around - taking it easy, walking around the Old Quarter ... "This is the Asia we dreamed of from afar. Steeped in history, pulsating with life, bubbling with commerce, buzzing with motorbikes, and rich in exotic scents, the Old Quarter is Hanoi's historic heart" (Lonely Planet). Just photos are here.

Recall that I left my pack in the airport in Hong Kong and eventually got it back. The only time Leslie carries a purse traveling is when we fly. Now, Leslie left

her purse at the visa issuing area in the Hanoi airport and when I raced back to where she'd left it, there it was, sitting on the bench. Lucky twice! On to the Camellia 4 and into our room around 9pm. Really tired. We went across the street to the King Cafe for chicken with garlic and chillies, an order of french fries(!), and beer. Photo: Passages like this are everywhere

The next day we had the Camellia's outstanding breakfast buffet, including pho ga + massive amounts of Vietnamese coffee, then walked to the bank to change money. Last year while we were at that bank there was a baby shower going on. Leslie asked the woman who was helping us about the shower and after some puzzlement (Why is this foreigner asking about this and how does she know?) it turned out it was for her, so she and Leslie had a good time talking about the baby. Photo: Flower vendor - tons of goods are sold like this

We walked to the Intimex Store, walked around there looking at this and that food, kitchen wares, etc. (Leslie and Charles getting jiggy), and bought some yogurt and 250 grams of Trung Nguyen coffee. We walked to the well-known (and not highly recommended by me) bun cha place on Hang Bo Street. We had bun cha (grilled pork served in nuoc mam [fish sauce] with vegetables) and nem (fried spring rolls), which was very good, but expensive ($4.50USD) and way too much food for us, so we got almost a full order of bun cha to go and went back to the hotel.

By now I was feeling pretty bad with the onset of a sinus infection, so I started a course of azithromycin and took some ibuprofen and rested. The last thing I remember as I fell asleep was the maids outside our door, laughing, talking, carrying on – happy me.

Later, as Leslie was getting the bun cha out of

the refrigerator in our room, the shelf it was on collapsed and the plastic bag of pork and fish sauce burst, sending the smelly stuff everywhere. I roused myself from bed and we got a pretty big mess cleaned up pretty fast. Is this the Flub and Dub Asia tour? Photo: Well to do child near Hoan Kiem Lake

The next day we had the breakfast buffet, but were a little more restrained with our coffee intake. After breakfast we decided to walk straight up Pho Hang Giay from our hotel. After the first block there were no more women selling souvenirs or shoeshine guys wanting to fix my shoes and the street got more and more congested with vendors, stores, and tiny cafes along each side, pedestrians, people carrying cafes on a stick (little stove on one end, food, and a

few stools on the other), impossibly laden motorcycles, trucks, so on and so forth. Photo: Selling bread

Eventually we realized we were at Dong Xuan Market and went inside into narrow, crowded aisles with people pushing past us in that insistent, but somehow not very intrusive Vietnamese way. Even so, people who are easily irritated or who have personal space issues should never come to a place like this.

Leslie added to her pepper collection with 250 grams black pepper from a woman – a good deal for the woman and for Leslie. After 30 or so minutes we left and quickly found the narrow food alley near the market where we've been before. Straight away Leslie spotted a woman selling banh cuon so we squeezed into the bench and a stool and had some decent banh cuon with pork and very good nem for 20,000VND each (20,000 VND = $1USD). Photo below: We ate at this banh cuon place every day

The woman sitting next to Leslie got us squared away on how to fix it in a bowl of sweet nuoc mam with peppers and garlic and we tucked in for an outstanding and massively fun meal with people brushing past (lots of body contact), motorcycles scraping by, people reaching over our heads and between us and we're in the juice now! On the way out we spotted another western couple at another stand having a good time eating snails – of course they were Australians (the people, not the snails). I asked if they had a camera for a photo of them and took their picture. We're

all having a good time.

Oh man, how did Leslie and I find each other. From the halls of Thomas Jefferson High School more than 50 years ago to this narrow alley somewhere in Hanoi. Yes! Photo: Leslie buying pepper

The next day we visited Jim (an internet friend) at the school where he teaches. We visited his class and talked with the students, who were poised and articulate. Really a good time with these lovely young people and this man who has found a good home in Vietnam. Photo below: Impossibly jammed street that nevertheless manages to move

Our scene in Hanoi is much like anywhere else – walking around, enjoying the street action, checking out the little stores selling everything

imaginable, eating most meals on the street, visiting markets, finding the flow. Hanoi has astonishing traffic – people walking, people carrying huge loads suspended from each end of a split bamboo pole, countless motorcycles, fair number of cars and trucks – and zero traffic rules, except for the only rule, which is bigger has precedence (motos over people, cars over people and motos, trucks over everything). You have to really pay attention and never stop or flinch. It's the pedestrian's responsibility to choose a line of walk which doesn't challenge the vehicles and the motos and other vehicles then flow around the pedestrian. Also, when there are sidewalks, they're usually

completely filled with vendors, people working on this and that, and parked motos. It's a little dangerous and sometimes overwhelming, but still, a good or at least engaging time (what with so much to see and to keep track of). Today I somehow ran into a motorcycle, which fortunately wasn't moving, otherwise I'd have more than a sore knee. Photo: A brilliant selection of garlic goodness

We went back to the food alley near Dong Xuan for lunch: banh cuon (steamed rice flour crepes wrapped round a little seasoned ground pork), banh with egg and no meat, bun cha, nem (fried spring rolls) – all served with a bowls of sweetened fish sauce to eat out of and tarted up with

fresh garlic and chillies in vinegar, fried garlic, ground roasted chillies, and tiny limes to squeeze

onto it all. All of this for 70,000 dong (~$3.50USD). On the way out of the alley we stopped and got two fried dumplings, one stuffed with yellow bean and some coconut and the other a "salty mystery mix" that included meat of some kind. Photo: Hoan Kiem Lake

This vendor is described here on Sticky Rice: http://stickyrice.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/03/fried_cake_ball.html.0.....3. The next day I ordered two with bean paste and coconut, which I think is the better way to go.

Classic Leslie: We're having bun cha at another place in an alley and in addition to the usual grilled pork and pork patties, there is a third item. Leslie picks it up with her chopsticks and says, “I don't know what this is,” and takes a bite.

The night before we left I was finally well and walked to meet Jim at a cafe near the cathedral. I got there first and stood on the sidewalk, as I've done before, looking across the street as the

motorbikes, pedestrians, bicycles buzz in several directions across my consciousness until I'm in a trance of motos/people/Vietnam/alive/ good and the incessant voices talking, laughing, bargaining and the smells and dust and colors flashing. Photo: Little temple in the Old Quarter - crematorium door

That's pretty much what we're doing in Hanoi: walking around the full, noisy streets, seeing what there is to see (we've already seen most of the “tourist attractions”), eating fabulous street food, experiencing the intense street vibe, resting … Photo: St. Joseph's Cathedral - a far cry from our clinic site in St. Joseph's Catholic Mission (serving Vietnamese refugees)

Here is a weblog on food and the scene surrounding it in Hanoi: http://stickyrice.typepad.com/my_weblog/extreme_ch

eap_street_eats/

Hong Kong2 - Into the Flow

We're into the magic of the Hong Kong trip now - the crowds, the harbor, the Star Ferry, the food, the people, the alleys and narrow passages ... ahhh.

Here are just the photos of Hong Kong: https://picasaweb.google.com/109537175190450928722/HongKong2011

A little background on Hong Kong: We've always stayed in Kowloon. Kowloon is a peninsula split by Nathan Road running north from the harbor

and the Star Ferry. The ferry runs back and forth between Kowloon and HK Island where the financial district (Central), Wanchai, Happy Valley, Victoria Peak, etc. are. The southern end of Kowloon is called Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and is the main tourist area. TST is where the Chungking Mansions is - which nobody would call a tourist place – one newspaper called it “the most notorious flophouse in Asia” - I call it amazing. Here is something from Chungking Express: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCMkHm7HTBU&feature=fvst.

Photo above: Street performer, playing beautifully.

Going north from TST there is Yau Ma Tei where the Temple Street night market is, and then Mong Kok, which is where we're staying. Hong Kong is the most densely populated place on earth and Mong Kok is the second most densely populated district there – wow, people everywhere. No kidding, it's an art to move through the crowds and the people there are artists - no bumping, no jostling, just flowing through a true sea of humanity. To me, it's sometimes magical, sometimes a little crazy, and always intense.

Photo: The corner near the entrance to the Sincere House where we're staying. Can barely see the entrance between/above the man in the orange sweater and the woman in the pink top

Here is our trip. Up at whenever. The room we're in now has no window, so it might be 5 or 7 or later (but not much). I fix coffee in our little filter

holder and we have coffee and talk. I go for a fast walk with a little running and whenever there is a street to cross and the light is red, I do 25 inclined push-ups (total at least 100). On the way back to the room I pick up breakfast – usually dim sum, sometimes ham and egg sandwiches at Cherikoff Bakery or 7-11 (7-11 not the same as in U.S. - way smaller, cheap, and with some unique products such as rice with chicken feet). After breakfast I shower, get a leg-rub, and

we talk about the day. Then it's off to the races and back by around 4pm for Leslie to get a back-rub, take a nap, and figure out what's for dinner. I usually go for a walk after dinner.
ove through the crowds and the people there are artists, no bumping, no jostling, just flowing through a true sea of humanity. To me, sometimes it's magical, sometimes maddening, and always intense.

Photo above: On the street

The day after the last post we caught the bus to the Star Ferry and the ferry across the harbor to Central, then #15 bus up the Peak, going higher and higher past the office centers, TB hospital, past the graveyard, past the ultra-expensive apartments and homes

and then HK the skyscrapers, buildings, the harbor, the buildings spread out below in the haze that's always there at this time of year. The bus lets off near a shopping center-type place and we go up to Pacific Coffee where we always go, sitting at the glass wall overlooking all of HK, lingering over a double espresso, enjoying the view, reading the South China Morning Post, talking ...

Photo: The Star Ferry

Back down on what seems a crazy fast bus ride to where we get off to walk

to a famous wonton noodle shop for shrimp wonton noodle soup (the shrimp here have a wild taste, unlike the bland shrimp we get in the US) and vegetable with oyster sauce. We sat at a table and talked with a woman who came to HK from Vietnam in the early 80s. She's doing well now, but I know those were some grim early days. Bus to ferry and ferry back to Kowloon, riding that ferry so many times over the years and every time magical. This was our biggest day so far – Leslie is better and better every day.

Photo: On the ferry

And so the trip goes, no big events, few big attractions, just Being. Here. together.

The next day we went to Pat Kwan, the chilli sauce etc. place to buy some black peppercorns, then across the street to Fa Yuen Market to buy white peppercorns and walk around. The nice looking woman at one of the fruit stalls remembered us from last year (“You go to Vietnam.”), which was nice. I walked to the Chungking Mansions to change money, then back up the road a bit to meet Phil (an internet friend) and his son Henry. We had a good time - Phil is an easygoing person,

easy to be around and Henry is a great kid – like his other two children. I was running late, so made a sweaty dash to the ferry to meet Leslie, back to Tsim Chai Kee for more soup and vegetable. This time we shared a table with two students from Singapore and had a good time talking with them too.

Photo: Leslie waiting for the elevator in the Chungking Mansions

On our last full day we went to the Chungking Mansions for some Indian food and ended up at a Pakistani place having a good, cheap meal of chicken tikka masala, naan, pakoras, vegetable samosas, and milk tea. The place had one table, which we

shared first with two men from India, then with an intense guy from Pakistan, and of course there was the amazing parade of humanity from across the globe. Yeah! After we ate, Leslie wanted to take the elevator up to see if the floors had changed. The first one we saw was quite a bit nicer than in the old days, but the other two were the same as ever.

Photo: CK at entrance to the Mansions

That night I walked down to the Temple Street night market to see what was happening in the way of thangkas. Too bad, the place that sold quality Tibetan and Nepalese goods was gone.

Tsering, a Nepalese woman Leslie met before was still selling images, thangkas, etc., but the quality is not comparable to the other place. Sai Yeung Choi Street South was blocked to traffic and full of people, amazing crowded, buzzing with energy and conversation. There were some stre

et performers, including a young woman playing a Chinese violin beautifully. Hong Kong. What a place!

Hong Kong1

It was good flight San Francisco to Hong Kong. Leslie is the Master of good seats - thanks to (1) her persistence - no surprise that to anyone who knows her! and (2) seatguru.com. On a 747 in economy there are a total of six rows of two seats. All the other rows in economy are 3-4-3 (total about 400 seats). The two seat rows are the bulkhead seats where the fuselage tapers at the back of the plane so between the seats and the bulkhead there is some extra space - we had about 14 extra inches. So there we were with our own little scene, just the two of us with all our airplane stuff - books, blankets, Tabasco.

Photo: from the window of one of our rooms at the Dragon Hostel

I added up the hours starting when we got up at 6am in SF the morning of departure to finally collapsing in bed in HK at 8pm - 46 hours on the go, except I slept ~5 hours on the plane and Leslie slept~3 hours. Leslie felt bad on the flight with the tiredness and aftermath of pneumonia, and she felt worse when we got to HK. We cleared immigration and went to the wrong luggage carousel, then to the right carousel, through security and then - disaster! I'd left my backpack somewhere in the luggage area and no way were they going to let me back in. So we ended up spending an anxious two hours at the airport with Leslie guarding the luggage and me hiking in the

bowels of the office areas from from one end of the airport to the other. We finally left, packless, with Leslie and I both pretty down.

Photo: One of our rooms (the incredibly noisy one). The rooms at the Dragon are less than 7x12 feet - including the bathroom.

We caught the A21 bus into town, walk a few blocks to the Sincere House in Mong Kok, to the 7th floor where the Dragon Hostel is, wait for room, I caught a bus to the Chungking Mansions to change some money, back to Dragon, got a room, Leslie to bed. I caught the A21 back to the airport and on the ride I'm worrying, realizing no way should I have left Leslie alone feeling so bad. At the airport I ran up the stairs to the lost & found office (I've learned my way around the back ways of the place) and there it was - my pack - sitting on the floor!!! Nothing was missing either. Lucky I didn't lose it in Dallas or Bangkok or Phnom Penh. Back to the A21, back to the Dragon, back to Leslie, who was still in bed, feeling "maybe a little better." I'll never leave you like this again.

For dinner we had sandwiches we'd kept from the flight. I couldn't stay awake, so went for a walk around the neighborhood scouting out a cheap place we could eat tomorrow - a place with seats with backs - nothing but the best! I found a place and as I was walking I thought about our last trip and how exhausted and bad Leslie felt then when we got to HK.

That was heartening and I worried less. Finally at 8pm, so many hours after we got out of bed in SF I laid down to sleep in HK.

Photo: On the street

We awakened at 5am and Leslie's first words were, "I'm better." Oh happy day! We laid about talking and in me an undercurrent of joy and gratitude that she's better and we're such good friends. I fixed some coffee and we hung out for another hour or so. I went for a fast walk, doing inclined push-ups at every corner where the light was red and along the way I saw some people eating at little folding tables set up on the sidewalk. That's usually a good sign - and it was this time too. I'd found a good, cheap dim sum place. So for breakfast in our room we had steamed shrimp dumplings, steamed BBQ pork buns, and fried curried chicken rolls.

The trip has gone from exhaustion, sick, anxious to feeling better/feeling good, decent dim sum, rested (but still tired). In short, Oh a happy day, a happy day.

Photo: The place where I get us dim sum for breakfast

We're settled in to the trip. Leslie is still fatigued from the pneumonia, so we're doing something we've talked about in the past: hanging out in a few blocks area, seeing and doing what there is to do right here. And there is plenty - at least there is for the easily amused like we are - digging the amaaazing crowds; enjoying discovering new places to eat like the dim sum for breakfast place, like new noodle soup places, renewing our Taipan Bakery trips, making the phone mall scene (oh wow, if you haven't been HK you've probably never seen anything like this place - 100s of little shops [4'x6' or as big as 8'x10'] crammed full of 4G phones and people packed in everywhere); hanging out in our tiny room, talking, having coffee, just being together, happy in this room. We're in our 3rd room! The first one had some men working very noisily nearby all day, so it was challenging to rest. The second was too close to a main street so it noisy all night until ~4:30am. This last one is quieter all the way around - ahhh.

Photo: The entrance to the Sincere House where the Dragon Hostel is is right past the stinky tofu place on the right of the photo.

This is the first Asia trip where I've had a laptop, which is nice given we're spending a fair amount of time in the room. I really am enjoying the music ... Pearl Jam playing Yellow Ledbetter, Aes Dana doing Summerlands, Vibrasphere doing Forest Fuel, Bob Dylan singing Not Dark Yet (at Jack Kerouac's grave), Brandi Carlile singing Downpour - David gave me this song and the refrain echoing in my mind for days now ...

And when you need someone to carry you through

I'm gonna be there for you

I'm gonna be there for you

Sometimes I can't even begin to believe this life, these times.

Photo: Breakfast in bed (like there's anywhere else to eat in our room. Steamed pork with black beans and chillis, har gow, stuffed fried dumplings

It's New Years Day. I went for the usual walk-run-walk-push-ups-walk. Dim sum again for breakfast - today steamed pork with black bean and chilli, har gow, stuffed dumpling - all for $45 HKD (a little less than$6USD). Leslie and I walked to the Taipan bakery, then she went back to the Dragon to take up ice, pay Stanley, etc. and I caught the #2 bus to Chungking Mansions ("a place like no other place in the world ... huge ramshackle dump of a place ... caters for virtually all needs ... undercurrent of sleaze ... peculiar odors ..." Lonely Planet]) to hang out and change money. Uh-oh, many of the shops closed and fewer people in the hallways.

Maybe it's the end of an era.

Photo: Star Ferry. the Twinkling Star

We rendezvoused at the Star Ferry of course - "I'll meet you at the Star Ferry." We rode the ferry to the Island and back - no destination other than the ride itself. In a beautiful stroke of good fortune, we rode the Twinkling Star both ways. Since 1978 this one has been my favorite (all the ferries are named something Star - Morning Star, Evening Star, Meridian Star, Twinkling Star, etc.). Caught the #6 bus back past our stop so we could go to Wellcome Grocery, where we bought beer and yogurt. Back to our room for awhile, then to the fish ball restaurant for shrimp and vegetable

wonton noodle soup and steamed vegetable. Back to the room for a nap. It's been a very good day. Leslie is stronger every day.

I forgot to say that after the Chungking Mansions I walked to Ka Ka Lok Fast Foods (where in 1978 we used to get nice little ham and egg sandwiches) to get Leslie - what else - a ham and egg sandwich. Good times.

Photo: Al fresco dining at Ka Ka Lok

San Francisco, on the way to Asia

It was a wonderful Christmas. Santa came early and left gifts and filled stockings - incredibly we actually found some bits of carrots that the reindeer didn't finish on the front steps - wow! I read The Night Before Christmas same as I have for the past 25 Christmas eves. And the magic of Christmas and our little family.

We stayed at Charles' house, so were with David and Charles most of the time (Charles was on-call, hence working

on and off through Christmas eve and day). We all cooked and hung out and walked around the neighborhood (Castro and Noe Valley). David and Charles made a roast, curry, macaroni and cheese, souffles and I baked two pecan pies.

Leslie and I did our usual San Francisco trip ... trolleys and buses all over creation. Look at that! Yeah, Look at that building ... house ... garden ... trolley ... person - over and over again. Look! Look!

Photo: And look at that pecan pie Leslie and David are holding! Taken with camera David and Charles gave us.

Of course we made it to Good Luck Dim Sum. Of course we found new (to us) bus routes. Of course we went to Haight-Ashbury and Golden Gate Park. Of course we found new places and new marvels. over and over again ... Look! Look! Of course we made it to new places and new marvels.

We wanted to be sure we didn't wear out our welcome and so moved from Charles' house at the junction of Noe Valley and The Castro to David's apartment waaay up the hill in Diamond Heights/Twin Peaks. So here we are with San Francisco and the Bay spread out before us diamond lights in the night and fog in the morning. We're leaving tomorrow night for Hong Kong. Leslie has (again) gotten us brilliant seats on that big Cathay Pacific 747 - at the back of the plane where the fuselage begins tapering and there isn't room for three seat rows, so we're in one of three rows on each side of the plane with two seats + space between the seats and the bulkhead to stretch our legs. Niice.

Photo: David and Charles outside of David's apartment

I'm reading one of the books I've been saving for travel - Jon Krakauer's Eiger Dreams. Here is something from the chapter titled On Being Tentbound: "Being tentbound isn't wholly

an ordeal. The first few hours can pass in a dreamy euphoria while you lie peacefully in your sleeping bag, watching raindrops trickle down the outside of the translucent fly, or the snowdrifts slowly climb the walls." Exactly so. Cozy in my tiny space, glad I did a good job of getting stakes in and reinforcing them with rocks (the wind blows hard in the Wind Rivers), rearranging my stuff, getting ready for the short dash to the overhanging rock where I'll brew up some coffee or hot chocolate - ahhhh.

On the road again.

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(The following written before the preceding - what can I say but that it's the internet) It's Sunday. I stayed home from church to prune the roses and get the yard squared away in general. Last night I did a good close-to-final packing so that I have all my stuff + our medicine bag + the "kitchen" and electronics box (coffee, sugar, heater, plugs adapters, etc.) in a medium-size roller. I also have a carry-on daypack with a laptop, books, weeks worth of medicine, etc. in it. There's also a shoulder bag which we'll leave in Cali. Leslie has a shoulder bag and a carry-on bag. Summary: check one bag, carry on the rest.

Photo: What a great trolley coming up the F Line! I think it's one of the ones from Cincinnati or Baltimore (SF bought old trolleys from various places and volunteers restored them).

The past few days I've felt occasional waves of euphoria as the trip gets closer

and closer and and it's two days before we leave.

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Tuesday. Last night we talked more about the sense of adventure with this trip.

"Whole generations of westerners who went out there as soldiers, doctors, planters, or journalists lost their hearts to these lands of the Mekong ... there are places that take over a man's soul." Jon Swain

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Leslie feeling waves of anxiety and euphoria. Me too. This feels like an adventure. The route is not untraveled (San Francisco, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Hue, Dalat(?), Saigon, Can Tho(?), Chau Dac(?), Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, BK, HK, SF), but still, given our ages, every trip has the distinct potential of being the last. And, even in these days of bottled clean water and plenty of aircon guesthouses, there's some of what some people would see as somewhat hard traveling in that route + it's hot, and maybe, hopefully raining some. At this stage of the game it's a challenging trip. Like the Sherpas say, Ever Onward!

These lands of the Mekong ...

2011

2011 has been an amazing year, and I'm filled with gratitude. We’ve had some really good times with David and an intense family time in May. Leslie and I have traveled a lot, hung out together a lot – these are the days. Leslie is taking care of business. I’ve been baking and cooking some wonderful things (see below). I was able to backpack again(!) and am planning on going back into the mountains in 2012. Photos: Spring, Wind Rivers, San Francisco & home, CK's SF trip, Trance & assorted, Thanksgiving

Next year we may need to slow down some.

Photo: Spring at our house

Part of retirement has been (thus far) a marked reduction in time and effort in helping others. Leslie is doing a big job with someone who has pancreatic cancer and other serious problems and I’ve been helping some with that, but she’s doing most of the work. Maybe we’ll get back to those sorts of things further down the road; maybe not. Maybe our race is run and it’s goodbye to all that.

Our house smells like coffee every day. Some days it smells like coffee and chocolate, some days like garlic and chilies, some days like cookies and hot chocolate, some days like curry and chutney, some days like bread coming crusty and brown hot off the stone and out of the oven.

January – We traveled for about 8 weeks in Cali and SE Asia with David (the trip started 11/2010 and ended 1/2011).

Photo: Junior wren - her or his first day to fly

February – Arthroscopy knee.

March – Cali (Oakland & SF) – some good times.

April – I went to Oklahoma to see Jeff for a couple of days – a good trip.

May – Berkeley for David’s graduation from Berkeley Law School (photo below). Congratulations! And talk about an intense family trip. What a great thing to have been there, then.

June – Deep in the Heart of Trances (photo below), which was wonderful and Sonic Bloom, which wasn’t. Deep in the Heart felt like coming home; Leslie to San Francisco to spend a week with David.

July – Rest. LOL, after I wrote “Rest” I quit working @ the Agape Clinic – differences in values. I’m fully retired. What a wonderful career and what a wonderful time working with Leslie.

August – Full Moon party @ Armadillo Acres; backpacking in the Wind Rivers, into the alpine and the incomparable Titcomb Basin, again! Past the trees, into the alpine, rock and snow, water and tundra, high and wild and beautiful

September – Many days August and September over 100^o; Leslie to SF for a week with DK and at Holden’s; David home for a few days; CK to SF for a week, staying with DK.

Photo: David after receiving his diploma

October – We had a brilliant trip to SF and Berkeley – saw David, 4 days at Grant in Chinatown and 4 days at Judy’s guesthouse in Berkeley (Leslie got us $99 RT tix DFW-SFO – we had to go); party near Austin.

November – Soul Rise, a perfect psytrance gathering in the Hill Country - good times with Loyed, Melvin, Roberto, Devon, Derick, Chris, and others; I reached my goal of doing the same # push-ups as my age: 67; to San Francisco for a great Thanksgiving with David.

December – home from SF, getting ready for SF and Asia.

Some of what I’ve cooked in the past several years is listed below. Baking has been a wonderful experience:

Flour in the air!

Flour in my hair!

Flour on my nose, ears,

Flour everywhere!

Photo: One of my campsites in the Winds

Mains & related

Tomato basil soup

Bun cha

Chili

Grilled chicken (Cajun, jerk, curry)

Spaghetti/marinara/putanesca

Pesto

Tom ka

Tom yum

Avocado salad

Poulet Marengo

Stuffed chicken breast

Mushroom soup

Lahb

Crostinis a la Leslie + pesto, kalamatas, other

Goan curry

Tikka masala

Chutneys

Raita

Assorted dehydrated things

Photo: The bench in front of the Star Grocery - where we sit to have morning coffee in Berkeley

Breads

Whole wheat bread from Tassajara

Biscuits

Batards and Boules from Acme Bread Co. recipes

No-knead bread

Country French sourdough

Sourdough and yeasted breads with cheese, kalamata, herbs

Photo: Sunday morning at Deep in the Heart of Trances

Desserts

Pecan pie from Cook’s Illus.

Pecan pie (chocolate/bourbon), whipped cream

Toasted pecans

Nutella

Banana pancakes

Hot chocolate

Chocolate pie almond crust

Pecan sandies

French toast with eggnog

Honey bars from Tassajara

Apple cobbler

Banana nut bread

Orange marmalade

Madeleines

Pear, strawberry preserves

Chocolate chunk pecan cookies

Brownies

Ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, pistachio)

Oatmeal-raisin-walnut cookies

Triple chocolate cookies

Chocolate pecan torte

Photos: Above is of peach blossoms and below is whole wheat bread and some oatmeal cookies

San Francisco and Berkeley

San Francisco, Berkeley, war story, psytrance. Photos have become difficult to insert in this blog, so I'm putting a couple in and the rest (a few of home, most of SF & Berkeley) are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/109537175190450928722/2011OctoberHomeSF

Another Bay area visit - a few nights in San Francisco and a few in Berkeley. We stayed at the Grant in Chinatown. I was sitting in the bay windows (room 501) overlooking the street and remarked to Leslie that it feels normal to be sitting here, overlooking Grant Avenue, the main (tourist) street in Chinatown. We spent a fair amount of time on Stockton, the next street up with all the grocery stores/shoppers, dim sum joints, BBQ places, etc. We had dim sum about twice a day

while we were here. As always we took the bus, trolley, etc. all over creation.

When we were checking in at the Grant a woman gave Leslie two passbooks which allowed us to ride everything but BART for free - including the cable cars. So instead of the already very cheap senior rates on everything it was all free. We made it to Chinatown, the Tenderloin for curry at Shalimar (where I saw a man smoking crack at a bus stop - the same bus stop where I saw someone selling it last trip - I need to find another stop), the Castro, Haight/Golden Gate Park, Embarcadero (where Occupy SF was set up - buncha hippies who just don't get it that it's a good thing to take money from old people, cut back on veteran's benefits, tax the middle class at higher rates than the rich, etc., Lord, Lord, someone is crazy here and it's not me), Richmond to the Pacific, all over the place.

We spent several days hanging out with David and his friend, Charles and that was wonderful. We also saw Dave's roommate, Matt, which was also good.

Notes from a day: Dim sum for breakfast at You's (photo above), stop in assorted Chinese grocery and other stores selling mysterious things, take the bus to the Japanese dollar store, take the trolley to an art deco store, take the trolley to the Castro for a visit to a natural foods store, walk around the neighborhood, take the bus back to the trolley, trolley to Ferry Building, bus to so on and so forth. Photo: Our room at the Grant - $75/night.

So that's kind of the story of how we travel - hanging out, walking, riding, resting, ride some more, walking...

From SF we went to Berkeley – a garden city, so many houses are true gems. We stayed in a guesthouse (Shout Out for Judy's Channing GH – review follows). For $50 night, shared bath, kitchen to hang out in, good vibes, good times.

This is my Yelp review: Five stars for sure. The rooms are immaculate as are the shared bathroom and WC. Judy had fresh flowers in our room, a fresh bottle of water, and some chocolates. The kitchen is available and it's very comfortable. We had breakfast and dinner there most nights (food from Berkeley Bowl - a 30 minute walk away). Good Lord, you can even go out back at Judy’s and check the chicken coop for fresh eggs! A washer and dryer are available and I think there is a TV available, but who needs it here? Internet access is fast and reliable. The garden is great - classic Berkeley, very inviting. The Berkeley Cafe Trieste is a few blocks away, as is Good V-V-V-Vibrations, Black Oak Books, an architectural salvage place (nice), and some upscale cafes. Bus stops are nearby, but we've always thought Berkeley bus routes are confusing. Yet, we got back every day. Finally, it's nice to do business with a truly good person. So yes, it's a very good place and a good deal.

We did the usual - bus to Elmwood, the UC Cal campus, I met an internet friend on Telegraph, sat at the entrance to Sproul Plaza (Shout Out for Free Speech), and of course Leslie and I took the bus to Oakland, for, what else, dim sum.

Leslie got a call early this morning from someone who had read some of my things on the internet. It was from the older brother of one of the men who was killed in our unit in Vietnam - one of our first men killed. I ended up standing outside our little dim sum place in Oakland talking with this man on the phone - pretty hard to hold it together for both of us I think. I've gotten several calls like this in the past few years. So sad. This man told me how he'd enlisted after his brother was killed. Went to the infantry, but because of the death of his brother, wasn't in combat. Incredibly he spent a year with a primary duty of being one of the men who informs families that their loved one was killed.

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I posted this on facebook a few weeks ago ... There was a levain (pre-ferment) working in the kitchen for some sourdough bread and I was sitting on the floor in the front room, using a mortar and pestle to grind some seeds for a Goan curry and I was thinking, “I must be retired.” I got all inspired and here’s what I baked and cooked these past few days: Country French sourdough (plain and with cheese and Hatch chillis), whole wheat bread from the Tassajara Bread Book, triple chocolate cookies (the real deal – oh man!), Goan shrimp curry (brilliant), chicken tikka, tikka masala curry (okay, not great), raita, grilled CM sausage, and grilled Hatch chillis. I am retired and the house smells good. And since then, mango chutney (2 batches), cilantro chutney, and karahi potatoes.

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Before the SF trip, I went to a psytrance festival with friends from Dallas and Oklahoma. I was there for three days, camping in the hill country. A beautiful time. http://soundcloud.com/eckoe/drift