So You Thought You Were in Shanghai

Oops...I've been informed that the pictures from yesterday are not Shanghai, but in fact are still of Hong Kong. Rats. I guess that is the risk one takes when one tries to comment on pictures they did not take and were not there when they were taken. Sorry about that. Below are pictures from Shanghai. My sincerest apologies.

Now, before we move on to Tokyo, I must first comment on how weird it is to spend July 4th in another country. No fireworks, no cook-outs, no parades. Just another cold (still getting used to cold days in July), rainy day in July. So in honor of Independence Day, we have worn our red, white, and blue, Phil has challenged Robin from work (a Brit) to a re-enactment of a Revolutionary War battle at 4:30 pm in the office, and we're having hot dogs, Doritoes, strawberries, and potato salad (which I just remembered that I did not remember putting in the fridge last night after grocery shopping. Just found it on the floor of the jeep. Perhaps we will be skipping the potato salad.) for dinner.

Moving on...I give you Phil and I on our monorail ride to Tokyo Disneyland. Check out the mouse shaped windows and thingys that you hold on to when you have to stand. (cannot remember the word.)

Next we see the entrance to Tokyo Disneyland. Notice the crowds. Also notice the 25 sign. Apparently it was the 25th Anniversary of Tokyo Disney that they were celebrating all year. The big steel and glass structure behind the entrance was over the entire Main Street USA street of shops and restaurants. And behind that...

The castle. And the crowds.

And look...it's Phil eating a churro!

More tomorrow from Tokyo Disneyland.

On to Shanghai and Tokyo

Well...as you can from yesterday's post, I've been hacked. The management takes no responsiblity for any and all comments from PL. (ok...it's just Phil adding his two cents.)

Back to our Asia tour while I comment on Phil's pictures without really knowing where and what they are (at least until we arrive in Tokyo).

Here we see a lovely night shot of Shanghai. I looked for the day pictures, but alas there are none. Something about a pesky thing called work that kept him busy during the day.

Look...Pizza Hut and 7 Eleven in Shanghai!

And now...on to Tokyo. I flew out from the States on June 26th to meet Phil in Tokyo. And let me just say...after a short flight to Chicago and 4 hour layover, a flight a little over 9 hours to Tokyo is much better than the 15 or 16 hour flight from the west coast to Sydney. Who knew that I'd ever be saying that a 9 hour flight was nothing!

Phil picked me up at the airport, got us train tickets and we were on our way into Tokyo. (the airport is an hour from the city.) And if it wasn't for him meeting me...perhaps I would still be at the ticket maching trying to figure out how much yen to put in the machine and trying to figure out by looking at the map exactly which train I needed. No clue!

We pulled in to Tokyo, left the station and walked next door to the Imperial Palace to take a look around the grounds. So here's my only touch of real culture from the trip...a guard tower near the moat that surrounds the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

After a dinner of pizza for me and a cheeseburger for Phil, (who would've known that the pizza in Japan is much better than the pizza in Australia?) we got to our hotel...the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay. Check out the road directions on the street.

The hotel was very nice. I enjoyed English breakfasts at the restaurants in the morning- scrambled eggs, bacon (the American kind, not Australian bacon which is wide and chewy like Canadian bacon), croissants, fruit, and hot tea. But I'd have to say the neatest part of the hotel was their toilet seats. Yeah...their toliet seats.

They're heated!! Forget the bidet or shower button...I mean really, isn't paper truly enough? But a nice heated seat first thing in the morning? Lovely. Tomorrow...on to our first stop, Tokyo Disneyland.

We're Back...

Phil and I arrived back in Australia early Monday morning after an overnight flight from Tokyo. Sorry for the lack of posts in June (is it seriously July already?), but you, my loyal readers know we were back in the States for awhile. Had a fabulous time...miss family, friends, my bed, and just the best dog in the world, Sox. Back to the world of iceless Diet Coke. Sigh. But first...I must catch you up on our travels. Phil left to come back to Australia a few weeks before I did because he had to make a whirlwind Asia tour. He left for Hong Kong, then Shanghai, and then finally Tokyo. I tranferred all of his pictures from his trip on to the computer, but because I wasn't there, I'm really not sure where or what they are. So...this could be fun. My version of Phil's Asia trip.

Here we are in the city of Hong Kong. I think. Is Phil on a boat? Hanging out of his hotel window?Dangling from a dock pier?

PL- This is Phil standing on a rather solid dock pier taking a picture from the center of Hong Kong over to Tsim Sha Tsui- a shopping/dining/cruise terminal area of Hong Kong that's just across the Bay. Of note in the picture is the Star Ferry to TST on the right side. You'll note it's strong lack of apparent structural integrity. Add to that the boats general lack of appropriate power for it's size. The next day I boarded one of those boats to TST to survey the area. It's probably less than 1 mile across to TST which made for a 5 minute trip across, and a 30 minute trip back while fighting a current that the boat could barely overcome...

Hong Kong at night.

PL- This area is known as Lan Kwai Fong and is a popular night spot in Hong Kong. Interestingly there is a strong shortage of Chinese/Hong Kong faces in the crowds at LKF and a lot of british and american looking white people...

Here, Phil is at the entrance of Hong Kong Disney. Notice the mid-stride run. Impressive camera work.

PL- and strangely, they're running AWAY from the entrance.

At the entrance of the park.

Not Cinderella's castle and not Snow White's castle, but Sleeping Beauty's castle. And notice the lack of crowds. Phil made it through the entire park in 3 or 4 hours. As you will see in a few days...not the case when we went to Tokyo Disney.

PL- and 4 hours included a lunch break!! Don't blink or you'll miss the castle.

That classic ride...It's A Small World.

PL- and now that I've been to Disney in every location it exists, it really does seem like a small world after all!!

Apparently, Phil left Hong Kong Disney and took some cable car ride up to the top of some mountain (while getting a great view of the city) in order to gain some wisdom from the man at the top of the mountain. That wise sage...you know him as...

PL- the proper local term is "the peak" and coincidentally this is known as "the peak tram".

Michael Jackson. "Oww...whoooo hooooo" (my Michael Jackson impersonation.) Thank you, thank you very much. Seriously, Phil found a Madame Tussaud's wax museum and went through.

PL- Back when MJ was still "Bad"....

And finally, a great view from the top of the mountain. Tomorrow we move on to the next stop in our Asia tour...Shanghai.

Update for June!!!

Hi All!! Our normal family blogger is on holiday (vacation for the Americans) for a bit, so I figured I'd give a quick update on what's going on (this is Phil).

Last you heard, I had suffered an agonizing defeat of about 5 minutes....

We had a good time in Philly for a few weeks hanging out with family and friends. I had to work during the business days, but it was nice to be home on the nights and weekends. Sandra and I got to go to a Phillies game (wouldn't you know, this will probably be "the year"). I got to retest my ability to fly an airplane and came away unscarred, and we got to experience the Philly summer a bit early.

I've now been back in Sydney for a week and a half and Sandra and Sox are currently in Ohio. Sox was a bit jealous of all our travel, so Sandra took him on a trip.

Tomorrow I start a bit of a whirlwind Asia tour- stopping in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. That's right dad, Hong Kong and Tokyo. By this time next week, I will have been to every existing Disney theme park on the earth, and I'll post pictures to prove it!!

Sandra and I will finally meet on the last tour stop in Tokyo about this time next week.

I'll post some pictures as I tour around.

I won, I won, I won !!!

That's right! I beat Phil by 15 minutes in our Amazing Race back home. I managed to get the straight through flight from San Francisco after all (and for less than $70 bumped myself to Economy plus seating!) and even had the whole row of three seats to myself to stretch out and sleep for an hour and a half! Felt real good after the miserably, long flight from Sydney where the girl in front of me had her seat back so far, it dug into my knees the entire flight. Yeah, that was fun. I admit, I couldn't resist the extra hard shove of the seat everytime I got up to stretch. I know...not nice. But it was all worth it to see the look on Phil's face when I met him at his gate (which happened to be right next to mine). Priceless.
Now as for my list of things I was dreaming about...
Seeing Sox- check. Oh, so nice.
Eating a Cheesesteak- yet to come
Sleeping in our own bed- check. Felt like I was laying on a marshmellow. Man, there's something to be said for a memory-foam, pillow-top mattress.
Drinking glasses of Diet Coke filled to the top with ice- check. Four and counting...
Watching tv shows that aren't reruns from years ago- yet to come. Who has time for tv when I'm catching up on all these other things?
Pizza from Peppi's- yet to come but did have Brother's Pizza tonight. Mmmm.
Going to Phillies games- check. And last night's game...The Phillies beat the Rockies 20-5. Hits and home runs galore. And a bonus...dollar dog night at Citizen's Bank Park. Ashley declined the hot dogs, I had one and Phil had three, but Gregg took the prize with five.
Being with friends and family- check. Just the best, with more to come.
Driving on the right side of the road- check. It's so nice to drive without the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I just may hit something this time.
There's no place like home.

Amazing Race Part II: Phil's Revenge

Yes, we leave tomorrow (Phil at 10:00 am, me at 2:40 pm) to go back to the states for a few weeks. As we stand right now, Phil is scheduled to get in about an hour before me (who is supposed to get in around midnight), but we'll see. Phil is taking the treacherous route through Canada known for massive delays in past trips. I am scheduled through San Francisco, then Chicago, and then finally to Philly, but will try to get on a straight through from San Francisco to shave time off of my trip. Perhaps if I plead at the counter that I'm in a race and tell them I have to get on that flight they'll let me on the as now full flight. :) I'll keep you posted, while I'm not holding my breath.
I'll leave you so I can continue dreaming about seeing Sox, eating a cheesesteak, sleeping in our own bed, drinking glasses of Diet Coke filled to the top with ice, watching tv shows that aren't reruns from years ago, pizza from Peppi's, going to Phillies games, being with friends and family, driving on the right side of the road...

Busy Weekend

Friday night we discovered a new (to us) restaurant in the The Rocks. I give you: The Gumnut TeaGarden (cool name, huh?) Picture an outdoor stone patio surrounded by trees and gardens with candles on all the tables and lit lanterns hanging around the gardens while two guitarists play duets together. Nice, huh? And the food was good, too. Love that lamb! Saturday morning we drove down to Darling Harbour. We took a walk around Paddy's Market in Chinatown. It's a big indoor market that sells lots of junk. Really. We then walked over to the Chinese Garden of Friendship. I posted about it earlier but Phil and I actually went in and walked around. Very pretty.

Here's a picture of yours truly a little bit closer to the waterfall.

And here's a picture of the building at the top of the waterfall.

Why, why does it sometimes put pictures sideways ???? Sorry, I can't figure out how to change it, but if you tilt your head to the side, it's still a good picture of a cool building.

We then drove over to Watson's Bay to walk around Gap Park and eat some good ole' fish and chips at Doyle's Wharf. Check out the skyline of Sydney from the top of the cliff we climbed and hiked around. Fun weekend!