Posts from Russia, Korea, China, Japan, and Hawaii

Chronological list of posts:
Calendar in a nutshell as of Aug 28
Minneapolis to Amsterdam for Sep 4
St Petersburg--first day for Sep 5
St Petersburg--second day for Sep 6
St Petersburg--third day for Sep 7
St Petersburg to Moscow for Sep 8
The Kremlin in Moscow for Sep 9
Sunday in Moscow for Sep 10
Last day in Moscow for Sep 11
Trans Siberian Train for Sep 12
Novosibirsk for Sep 14
Novosibirsk State University for Sep 14
Getting settled for Sep 15
Testing technologies for Sep 16
All's well! for Sep 18
First day of class for Sep 21
In Novosibirsk to meet Olga for Sep 22
Laundry and a walk for Sep 23
How we got to Central Asia for Sep 24
Equinox sunrises and sunsets for Sep 25
House of Scientists for Sep 26
Gymnasium #9 for Sep 27
Our Piragova Street apartment for Sep 28
Central Siberian Botanical Garden for Sep 29
Meeting friends of friends for Sep 29
An interesting bird for Oct 1
New route through the woods for Oct 2
Ob Sea and English books for Oct 3
First snow for Oct 4
Teacher's Day at Gymnasium #9 for Oct 5
Russian art in Minneapolis for Oct 6
Jitneys and banya hats for Oct 7
A Russian banya for Oct 8
Gymnasium #9 Eighth graders for Oct 9
Post office for Oct 10
Hat weather for Oct 11
Gymnasium #9 Tenth graders for Oct 12
Tennis and bliny for Oct 13
Bob's observations for Oct 14
Chinese food for Oct 15
Dreary weather for Oct 16
8th graders and the zoo, too for Oct 17
Bob's new shirt for Oct 18
The Cyrillic Alphabet for Oct 19
The ballet, Giselle for Oct 20
Seasonal changes for Oct 21
To the dentists office for Oct 26
Packing for Oct 28
Travel day: 4 hour trip in 13 for Oct 29
Gyeongbokgung for Nov 3
Hong Kong delights for Nov 6
Tuesday in Asia for Nov 7 in Asia
Tuesday in Hawaii for Nov 7 in Hawaii
An island drive for Nov 8
Dinner with friends in Honolulu for Nov 9
Seen on Waimanalo beach for Nov 10
More friends in Honolulu for Nov 11
Aloha, Waimanalo! for Nov 12
The 72nd Day for Nov 13

The 72nd day

Downtown St Paul, Minnesota.

Flowing diagonally, in the lower right corner, is the mighty Mississippi River.


On the left side, near the middle, is the Minnesota State Capitol building.




We are not too far from home now. This is a view of downtown Minneapolis.













We're home in Minneapolis. What a great trip we've had! We are so grateful to have been able to do it. We have met new friends; travelled with good friends; connected with old friends. We have seen wonderful new places; revisited favorite places. We have enjoyed sharing our journey with you. Your questions have helped shape our little blog and we have appreciated all your encouraging notes.

May all your journeys be as happy and as sweet and as enriching as this one has been for us!

Aloha, Waimanalo!

A walk on the beach, of course.

































Followed by breakfast in Kailua. How could we pass up a place with a name like this? The macadamia nut sauce on French toast with Portuguese sausage on the side was a memorable meal. Checked in with Susan this afternoon. She says Boots is just fine in St. Paul.









Packing is packing.





Sunset was approaching as we took our last walk on the beach.



Aloha, Waimanalo!

Our flight home departs from HNL at 11:50 PM tonight, Sunday. After a brief stop in Portland, Oregon, on Monday morning, we'll continue home with a scheduled arrival at MSP at 2 in the afternoon.

More friends in Honolulu

There was more action on the beach on Saturday afternoon.










Volleyball.












Swimming and sun bathing.













Body surfing.













Fishing.











When we were in Seoul, we remembered that Susie's friend, Jill Yablonski, had been stationed in Korea after she had learned Korean at the Army's language school. Susie sent us Jill's email and we found out that she is teaching high school English in Honolulu.


This afternoon we met Jill and her friend Kevin at Fort DeRussy in Waikiki.








They presented us with these beautiful leis. Bob's will endure as it is made of shells. Jill says mine will make it back to Minneapolis. Won't it be fun to wear it in Duluth next Tuesday?






Bob was delighted to find out that after the Army, Jill has signed up with the Navy to complete her reserve commitment. Kevin is also in the Navy. Sailors, old and new, like to tell sea stories!


Jill and Kevin had tickets to see a live Garrison Keillor Prairie Home Companion show this evening. We bid them adieu as the sun was setting at Waikiki. What fun to see an old Minnesota friend right here in Honolulu! We'll look forward to seeing Jill again when she's home for the holidays in December.

As we returned to Waimanalo this evening, we listened to part of this evening's broadcast of the Prairie Home Companion show. We'll pick up the rest of it on the Sunday rebroadcast.

Tonight, we start repacking the suitcases, as this trip is drawing to a close.

Seen on the Waimanalo beach

The day is not complete without a walk on the beach. This stake marks the entrance of the access path from Hilu Street in Waimanalo.















On this Friday morning we shared the beach with these horses and their riders.











The call to be a sand engineer is compelling. We encountered this fellow working earnestly on an obelisk even though the ocean was quickly encroaching upon his work.




This is Rabbit Island with a halo of puffy clouds.









Bob is thinking about putting on his sandals for the walk back to our place.







Later, we had a late lunch at a restaurant close to the beach in Kailua.

Dinner with friends in Honolulu

View from the lanai at the Bird of Paradise Guest House








The way to the beach















Why Waimanalo? The beach.


The locals (our friends, the folks at AAA Hawaii, and others) have been consistent in their questioning looks and queries: Why Waimanalo? Well, Chris' friend suggested it and we found a place using the internet, and so we are here. It is quiet; it is reasonably priced; the parking is good; it's in a quiet neighborhood; it is NOT touristy. But the real reason is this: look at the beach. Count the people. Check out the view.

This evening we had dinner with two of Peggy's classmates from Mills. Lily and her husband, Jerry, were at our 40th reunion at Mills last fall; we hadn't seen Lyn since we were last here in 1988. We met at Lyn's home which is located on a hill to the east of the University of Hawaii. Driving there reminded us of the drive up to Twin Peaks in San Francisco. Sitting on Lyn's deck, catching up with friends from our youth, while looking at a spectacular view of Honolulu was bliss.



Lyn, Lily, Jerry, and Peggy













Lyn, Peggy, and Lily

An island drive

This was an easy day for us. Jet lag has us in its grips and sleep seems to envelope us the moment we sit still. This is why we wanted our last days of this journey in an easy and warm place to help us come back to "the real world." Although, quite frankly, both of us have loved the world we have been inhabiting. We are trying to figure out how to maintain the freedom that a calm life provides.

We drove through the central part of Oahu to the north coast and then followed the Kamehameha highway back to Waimanalo. These are views from the Hawaii Golf Course which is in the middle of pineapple fields in the central part of the island.
















As we came down the eastern side of the island, many roadside stands appeared where local fruit and products were for sale.

It is a sign of our weariness that there aren't more photos of this beautiful part of the island.

Tuesday in Hawaii

The flight to Honolulu left Narita right on time, just before 8 in the evening on November 7. After our airplane dinner, we stretched out our chairs and actually got a couple of hours of sleep. When we were near Honolulu, the cabin attendants woke us up, encouraged us to fill out the various customs and immigration forms, and to get our personal belongings tidied up. Thus started our second November 7. This one on the other side of the Date Line.

Until we reached Honolulu, the flight was pretty much uneventful. As we were about to land, the pilot told us that one of the engines had stopped and that the landing would be delayed as they sorted out how to compensate for this. No one seemed too concerned, least of all Bob and the flight attendant. Bob observed that the plane still had 3 working engines. It turned out to be a very gentle landing. Nonetheless, terra firma looked pretty good.

We found our rental car and managed to get to Waimanola and found the Bird of Paradise Guest House where we will be staying. (Scroll down to the last frame of the panorama views in this last link.) We took long naps after this arduous, extra long day of traveling.

Later, we drove into Honolulu. The views along this east shore of Oahu are beautiful.



We love listening to the surf on the beach which is just a block away from our quarters.

Tuesday in Asia

After an 8:30 AM departure from Hong Kong, we landed 3 3/4 hours later in the Narita Airport near Tokyo at 1:15 PM this afternoon, Tuesday. (Tokyo's time zone is one hour east of Hong Kong's.)

Our flight to Honolulu leaves this evening at 8:10 PM. This 6 1/2 hour flight is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu at 7:40 AM on this same Tuesday, Nov 7. It will be a long day as we will arrive in Hawaii an hour before we left China this morning. The wonders of the International Date Line. What a world!


As you can see we have wifi in the NWA lounge.

We have looked at our email and made a post to the blog.


Peggy has done some sudoku puzzles.

Bob's read the Wall Street Journal and started to read the next book club selection.

It's very quiet in this place. Later this evening, we'll have dinner on the plane over the Pacific Ocean.

Hong Kong delights

A Hong Kong sight!
















at left: Bob, Peggy, Chris, and Nicola







Nicola and Chris at the Peninsula Hotel, a Hong Kong landmark.

For our 2nd and last day in Hong Kong, we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon to have lunch at Gaddi’s in the Peninsula Hotel. Bob regaled us with stories about dining here when he was a young officer in the Navy in the ‘60s.





After lunch we returned to the Rio Pearl shop. At the shop, Nicola found earrings to match pearls that Chris had been given in Shanghai.










Sara, Nicola, and Chris on the Star Ferry

On the way to the Star Ferry, we ran into Chris and Nicola's friend, Sara, from Austin, TX, who is also on this recruiting trip with Chris. Next week this ferry pier will be decommissioned so this was the last time this particular ride would be available for all of us.



Bob enjoying his Star Ferry ride.















This map shows the Central District park that stretches to the Peak Tram station.



Later in the evening when Chris finished interviewing students, we walked to the Peak Tram station. We took the funicular to Victoria Peak to see Hong Kong at night. Splendid. A little digital camera is no match for the spectacular view on a full-moon lighted night. We finished the evening with dim sum at one of the restaurants at the peak. It was a beautiful night for the walk back to the hotel. Bob and I packed because we have an early departure time in the morning.

Gyeongbokgung

This was the primary palace of the Joseon Dynasty. It was built in 1395 by its founder, King Taejo. Most of the 200 buildings that made up Gyeongbokgung were destroyed in 1910 when the Japanese annexed Korea. In the 1990s, the Korean government began restoring and rebuilding the palace and its grounds. This afternoon we wandered among the many buildings and gardens.

The main gate into the palace compound.









Detail of the gate with a view of Geunjeongjeon.











Geunjeongjeon is the main palace building. State ceremonies were held here and foreign dignitaries were received. It was built in 1395; destroyed during the Japanese Invasion of 1592; and rebuilt in 1867.





This is a detail of the upper walls and ceiling of this grand building.







More to follow...