Pleasure Palace... a sad place to be...

I always thought these 'massage sex stores' were funny places. The sad part is that these places are basically labor camps and prisons for young and unassuming girls. Its hard to imagine that while we were having lunch in the building next door, just 20 feet away, these girls are imprisoned and made to perform against their will.


Recently, we saw a documentary on human trafficking. It happens everywhere, but there is a huge predominance in Asia. Its a terrible crime to be sold or stolen. These girls are made to live in a 4' x 8' room, sometimes with many others in these same 'holding cells'.


This is a photo of the building from the side. What I failed to get into the photograph were the bars on the windows above the windows in the picture. It was a sad and sobering moment. Capitalism in the worst form...


Part of what amazes me is that they don't have electrical fires with all these wires everywhere... Maybe that would be a good thing if the building burned down. (Of course, we'd want people to get out safely...)

Fa Yuen Street Market

Our first stop in Fa Yuen Street Market was Paris! Actually, it was Cafe Paris. We hadn't had a breakfast so we needed food quickly!


We both ordered something to eat. What ended up coming out was a ham and swiss sandwich with the crusts cut off and a spaghetti--gravy-pork-chop-seafood-mixed-vegetables concoction. At least the food tasted alright. Or maybe we were extremely hungry. I think the unexpected highlight of our meal was when our cute waitress bent over the table and we got a free show (nip slip!). I don't think she even knew... or maybe she was working for her tip? Either way, it was worth a laugh... and a 3 dollar tip! (Tipping isn't required in HK. Since our meal was only 10 USD for 2 coffees, a plate of pasta and a sandwich, a 3 dollar tip is pretty nice!!)


Shopping at the office supply store for whatever will allow us enough time to cool off and enjoy the air conditioning. Did I mention that Hong Kong is hot AND humid? well, if I haven't yet, IT IS! We did end up finding some good fabric roller wheel cutters and a few x-acto type blades that are hard to find. Designers... always buying weird tools...


Laura's favorite Japanese skin care store is DHC which is VERY hard to find in the States. They offer natural, hypoallergenic skin care, and if anyone knows anything about laura, its that she's stubborn. Oops, I meant to say, she's allergic to red and yellow dye. What doesn't have either? Blue colored things? other than that, most things cause Laura to break out into a rash or hives. Anyhow, just for example, a bottle of cleanser in the States costs 50 USD. Out here, 50 USD will buy you a 4 piece kit. That's a big difference! Import/Export business anyone??


I love that tall building surround everything in Hong Kong. I think we'll have to try and get to the top of one of these buildings or an observatory to see the surround landscape. Perhaps tonight?


The view from the cafe we stopped at for a rest... Its just like a human ant hill! Teeming with people, scents(squid-like?), stores, and the occasional cockroach... Want to buy a watch or a purse? And yes, they're fake!


Mango sorbet and some designer furniture... cools the body AND the mind...


15 dollars for a pair of 'All Stairs'... just kidding, they said All Star on them, but you could tell, these aren't real 'Chucks'...


People crowd the streets... Not everyone is buying, so are they paid to walk around and make the place feel... busy? I wonder if its a conspiracy...


Another market shot.


NASCAR fans rejoice!


Weird beaded curtains...


More iPhone cases than one could imagine. Plus they were only 4 bucks each. Still overpriced, if you ask me...


After a long day of shopping and site-seeing, the taxi ride is the magic carpet that whisks us back to the hotel.


After unloading our packages from long day of shopping, we stopped in at the hotel bar. The amazing thing is about this bar is that its an exact reproduction of a 1920's style New York bar. Check out the stained glass dome, very chic!


We even stopped into the bar for a drink or two. I had a Caipirinha and Laura had an Apple Mojito. Oh yeah, and there was a band too. They werent' half bad either.


Oh yes, and how could I resist buying an AIG jersey today? Goooooooooo Manchester!

Late night snackin' at the Intercontinental Grand Stanford

It seems like every night we've been eating later and later, so this means dining in the cafe in the lobby of hotel we're staying at. Luckily, the food tastes good so we didn't have to stray too far. Mostly, we stop here to dry off and enjoy the A/C. Its a good escape from the humidity!


As you can tell, the lighting is nice and dim if you don't use the flash. Did I mention blurry too if you don't have tripod handy? Notice my wedding ring? I'm still getting used to wearing it. It makes it extra difficult with the humidity making my fingers a little plumper than usual.


This picture is with the auto flash setting on our Olympus Stylus Tough. Maybe we need to figure out the settings? I think I threw the instruction manual out in the recycling... oops! On the other hand, I think we'll take the Nikon D80 out tomorrow and see if we can get some nice quality shots... Oh, and yes, that's a huge cheeseburger in Laura's hand. As for me, I had salmon, cream cheese, and bagel chips. Not a bad midnight snack, eh?

Nathan Street, its a looooong street!

Just a quick shot of us in front of some huge turret looking structure. Actually, this place was not unlike a particular area of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, CA. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about... I'm not sure you can see it, but I think Cartier and Tiffany's are behind us. Nice to look at, but we want more of the fun and culture, so we walked on...


While walking on Canton Street, we found this Taiwan/Chinese style restaurant. In the window, they had mouth watering images, but the kicker was the peking duck and BBQ pork hanging on meat hooks in the window. Time for a bite! Oh yeah, notice the Body Shop sign? There is one on every other block. I guess they love their skin care...


This picture is not unlike a Where's Waldo photo. I think we're in there somewhere... On another note, have you ever seen a Kung Fu movie? You know those chairs that resemble skeletonized drums? Well, we were sitting on them, almost back to back to other customers. A nice tight fit, but the food was well worth it.


Ma Po Tofu on the left, Green beans with garlic in the back, Taiwanese beef noodle surprise on the right, and in the front, dumplings with this amazing sauce that can only be called, 'turbo rocket fuel'. It was some of the hottest and most satisfying dumplings I have EVER eaten. I don't give out awards easily, but these dumpling... wow... (Even laura agreed)


Street vendors sold all kinds of crazy goodness. I only wished I was hungry when we got to this point. They had every piece of the pig, chicken, cow, and whatever else... I think we're going to try and get some of this next time we're out. Definitely something that needs more exploration! I almost feel like Anthony Bourdain!


The streets here are overrun with neon signs that hang over the road. So, that means you can't stick your head out of a limo unless decapitation is in your agenda for the evening. Well, maybe they aren't THAT low, but... you get what I'm saying...


Here is an example of a typical 'Ancient Chinese Secret' herbal vendor. The store is aromatic and visually overwhelming.


Now, here's an interesting store that is a little out of place. Its a Japanese candy store. Notice how clean and bright it is!?!? Not very common out here, as you can tell by the previous pic...


Okay... I think I have a billboard of an Asian lady doing the splits over my head... naked... We weren't sure if they were selling skin products, massages, Special Massages (you know what I mean), or gym memberships. Maybe we'll go back and do more... 'research'...

By the end of the night, I think we had walked at least 4 miles in the heat and humidity. It was a good workout, but my back was soaked. By the end of the night, we got tired and flagged a taxi. We didn't realize it, but it turned out that we were only 4 blocks from the hotel!! It was probably the best dollar we spent all night!

Temple Street Night Market!

Temple street night market is what it sounds like... its a night market on temple street! Unlike most night markets that we've been to, this one is pretty big and crowded. The lanes are extremely narrow considering that people are trying to pass you like 3 cars taking a 2 lane road. Its fun, but can be a little nerve racking considering that these are the kind of situations that can get you pick=pocketed. Luckily, the only thing we lost was our money, in exchange for some fun and interesting knick knacks.


After walking a block, we realized that we were famished. So as we stared at difference restaurants, the little man in the red shirt and white pants walks up to us, ushers us to a table and immediately suggests we need 2 bottles of beer. The funny thing is, I think we were waiting for him to select his restaurant! Anyhow, he was quite a character. Just looking at his demeanor and physique, he looked like he had spent many years as a traditional Chinese actor. His facial expressions were quite poignant. Oops, I just realized we didn't even take pictures of the food! I'll do better next time...


On the other hand, you can see what they serve here by looking at the wallpaper/menu. We ordered Pretzel Style Pork, Fried Noodles, and Fried Rice. Oddly enough, we almost finished it all along with 2 tall bottles of Tsingtao beer.


Other outdoor restaurants in the night market. Almost like Paris!


For some of you that have been to the LA Fashion District, this is similar, except they have waaaaay more stuff here.


Check out all the living spaces up above... Too bad I didn't have any water balloons...


This guy had a different kind of stall than the others. His name is Tam, and Tam does Chinese Calligraphy. What is swell about this is that you pick what you want, on what type of scroll or frame, and he will do this in front of you. I think that's a little more interesting than buying something that has been mass produced in a factory. I asked him to do a scroll that says, 'Pimpin ain't easy'...


At the end of the market, there are other markets that trickle off the main street market. This particular one had rows of stalls with fortune tellers. This stereotypical old man with pointy fingernails and long wispy hair told us that Laura is stubborn and will live a long time. Who knew? (he said the same thing to me...) Lucky US!


I know its hard to see, but do try to make out what they are selling. Yes,that's right, they are 'sex toys'... I'm not sure that you could sanitize them enough. Sorry, I'll buy my stuff from the seedy stores in the USA with a brown paper bag that says, 'nothing to see here'...


Now I know how to write 'SEX' in Chinese. Now is that Cantonese or Mandarin? And how do you pronounce it?


And I thought the Pho places in the USA had a lot of NEON!!! I sure hope they had solar cells on the roof of the building to power that! Its hard to tell, but this radiates just like the eyes of the snake in the Jungle Book... I was stuck staring at this for a few minutes... pretty...

Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong

Last night we were a little restless while trying to catch up with sleep, so we took a walk to the Avenue of Stars. Its very similar to Hollywood and Mann's Chinese Theatre with the hand prints and stars in the sidewalk. There is also a statue of Bruce Lee there that everyone was trying to photograph. (The statue looks a little taller in person)

The one thing to mention here is that its 100% humidity. Eventhough we had a breeze and it was only about 85 degrees F, my shirt was soaking wet when we got back to the hotel. Maybe I need to start wearing mesh shirts and short shorts...

Intercontinental Grand Standford, Hong Kong!

We're staying at the Intercontinental Grand Stanford which is at the east end of Victoria Harbor. The nice part is we are just off the tourist section, so we can walk to the craziness, but its still quiet off the beaten path. Everything is really close. Its either a walk, taxi, or ferry to get there. Here is the view at night... amazing isn't it?

The Honeymoon has begun!

We left LAX at 2:00AM on thursday morning(late wednesday night)... EVA Air has some great Business Class seats. Very comfy considering my sciatica is acting up still... hope that goes away soon... anyhow, so we made it to Taipei, had a 3 hour layover, then headed to Hong Kong. The airport has some amazing architecture and these gorgeous glowing orange panels. Definitely going to keep that in mind for an office one day...

April showers?

I always mean to post something, yet I never do... how can I find the time to do this? Perhaps a few less hobbies? ok, I will put a post-it note near the computer to remind me. How's that for hi-tech? ok, good enough for now! more later...

One month ago...

Coincidence? Irony? probably neither. Its just funny how my 2nd blog is exactly one month from the first entry. Not too shabby. Not too great either. I think I would like to do a weekly if not more daily posting. But that's all in the past now, so let's move on.

So, in the past month, much has happened. Laura received her sabbatical to finish her P.H.D. this year and part of next year. Consequently, this is also the year we are getting married, July 10th, to be exact. We finalized the caterers, a lovely little boutique restaurant called The Farm in Redlands, CA. If you are ever in the area, definitely check it out. Hmm... what else?

We're also in the market for an RV or a Trailer to travel around the USA during Laura's sabbatical. I hope I can work on the road, otherwise, we may have to shorten the trip to accomodate our clients.

Lastly, we are in the process of 'de-cluttering' our life as well. Its really hard to take 2 households with entirely too much stuff, and cram it into a little house with 3 adorable, yet quarreling, cats. At least they stopped spraying... for now.

Well, I guess I should leave you with a photo or sketch, afterall, isn't that why I started this blog?


This is a sketch of hellboy as an old man who spent way too much time in the sun... enjoy