Gundam

This was on the top of our list of things to do in Tokyo -- get a photo in front of the life - size Gundam statue.

Exploring Ariake

We went exploring the neighborhood and found a wheel.

Tokyo!

We made it to Tokyo! It was a little scary coming into Narita airport because the winds were very strong. The plane was pitching so much, I overheard other passengers getting sick. Eww. I thought we should take another approach, but the pilot was fantastic. We made it in safely. Hooray!

Here is our hotel. It looks like a huge robot.

Also I found what I thought was the first cherry blossom of the season. Then we decided it was some other kind of flower. Oh, well.

Pizza in Bangkok

Pizza in Bangkok? Not a good idea. Lemongrass just shouldn't be in a pizza. Ever.

Weekend market

Buying silk
Buying beads

Boat along the river

Tuk-tuk ride

We rode a boat along the west side of the city and saw interesting homes and businesses along the river.

We rode a tuk-tuk for the first time. How fun! I need one of these at the lake.

Had a little trouble with the lock

It was our last night in Hong Kong. We had dinner and came back to the apartment, but our key would not open the door. We called the owner, who called a locksmith, who drilled out all kinds of lock parts, but still the door would not open.

After about 4 hours of effort, the owner agreed to Carl's proposal to open it the American way - just bash it in.

Potatoes in Hong Kong

Potatoes are rare in Hong Kong. They just aren't nearly as popular as noodles. So, when we saw this place, we got very excited. It serves french fries and some other fried thing, topped with 2 sauces.

I ordered fries and squid balls topped with mayonnaise and chili sauce. Yum!

Notice the huge line blocking the entire sidewalk and several surrounding shops.

Bangkok!

We made it to Bangkok!

This is so cool - there are a dozen cart-vendors right outside the building. Our first meal? Corn on the cob from a mobile corn - steamer. :)

The building also has a pool, which is great because it is very hot!

Here is my first Pad-Thai in Thailand.

Hong Kong bus tour

We bought tickets for the Big Bus tour of Hong Kong. We saw Stanley and it's market and seaside. It was quite picturesque.  Later, we had great fish and chips in a seaside restaurant with lots of local British influence.

We came upon a marathon competition. Competitors were in teams of four and had completed hiking, climbing, and other events before they arrived at the park. The last event was a slippery board at about a 30 degree angle to the ground. It was slick, so the team had to work together to get all members over it. Some were able to climb it with good shoes, but most had to climb over one another. It was quite entertaining to watch, so we spent some time there.

Special dinner

There is a place near our apartment called The Suckling Pig that had pigs and ducks hanging in one display window, and some water tanks with live seafood in another. It was noticeable because of the large geoducks that were shown there. We had seen the TV episode of Dirty Jobs that showed Mike Rowe harvesting these creatures, so we just had to try it.

We looked on the menu, but did not see them. None of the staff spoke English, so I ended up escorting the waiter to the tank and pointing. He and two others on the staff started talking very fast, and one of them wrote down the number 698 and showed it to me. This geoduck was going to cost about 90 dollars!
Yep. Let's do this.

The geoduck arrived on a beautiful bowl of ice, thinly sliced with shredded daikon radish and carrot.

This was also my first experience with Mantis shrimp. They fished one out of the tank and showed it to us. It was wriggling and flopping all over. We gave our approval, but I had to take its picture first. I wondered how many other restaurant guests take so many pictures of their food before they eat it.

The result?  The geoduck was awesome! I would definitely buy one and try to prepare it myself.
The Mantis shrimp were not my favorite. They were difficult to eat and there was not much reward.
We also had Sea bass with peas, green beans with pork, and hot tea that were all amazing!

Octopus balls for lunch

Slept in today and got up around noon. Perfect! Time for lunch!

We saw some workers emerge from a sub-terranian restaurant and decided to go in. It was a blue - color place, but the food was awesome! We had fried octopus balls, and scallops with broccoli. Both were excellent! The scallops were served with leeks and seasoned with ginger. The octopus balls were lengths of octopus rolled into tight balls and deep-fried.

Beverages

Pommelo tea is awesome!

and I am in love with this drink. It is tea, milk, and sagar. Perfection!

Teppenyaki

Carl took me to a wonderful teppenyaki place on the top floor (14th) of Langham Place Mall. The atmosphere was fabulous and the food was delicious. We were able to mix our own dipping sauce with a combination of garlic, soy, sriracha, and a minced pickled cabbage. It was great! Then we ordered a combination of mushrooms, veg, seafood, and fatty meat that flavored all the food. The waiter fired up the grill in the center of the table. We placed the items on the grill and watched as they curled and sizzled. It was a unique and tasty experience!

Laundry

We were very careful to rent a room with laundry facilities. Well, it has a washing machine, anyway. It has been too wet outside to hang clothes so we had to improvise.

McDonalds

For those who requested it, here is the menu board at McDonald's.
I did not see a "Royale" burger. We ordered cheesecake from the dessert case instead.

Temple street night market

We went to the Temple Street night market, and what a spectacle! All kinds of vendors with toys and electronics and kitch. LOVE it! We bought some gifts and food, and a Kingston class 10 64gb micro sdcard for about 20 dollars. I hope it works.

Gem show

The gem show was not what I expected. It was more for larger business sourcing and less about a casual hobbyist.
Oh, well. Maybe I will have more luck in the street markets.