Month: October 2018

On Wednesday night, sometime after my noodle bowl, we all bought tickets to go up to Lantau Peak on Lantau Island (the largest of Hong Kong Islands). To get up to the peak you needed to purchase tickets for a suspended 360 Cable Car. To avoid lines, Amy T suggested we buy these tickets the night before for our Thursday excursion and we picked an 11:45am time to get to the Cable Car. While that seemed like a leisurely time for the ride, the process to get to the Cable Car involved walking over to the Metro, getting on one train, changing trains in another station, and then riding the ‘Orange Line’ to the end of the line about 35-40 minute ride. Once you landed there, it was a 10-15 minute walk to the cable cars.

Amy B and I woke up at 8am on this morning to a text from Amy T, saying, let’s meet at the Orange Line/Tung Chung entrance at 10:20am. We both hopped up to start getting ready and I, of course, had the Dodger game on while getting ready but really couldn’t focus on it. It was a very close game and the Dodgers were winning 2-1 when we left the hotel. I knew I could listen to the audio while we were on the journey so we both quickly completed getting ready.

We didn’t make it to the Orange Line (the first change of trains) until about 10:15 am and realized there is no way we could make the rest of the journey all the way to Tung Chung by 10:20am. Once we boarded the Orange Line, I started texting Shelly to let her know we were probably about an hour behind and didn’t realize how long the process would take. After a few clarification texts, we realized there was miscommunication and they had meant to meet them at the beginning of the line, so we were actually ahead of schedule and ahead of them on the train. This was a big plus, because neither Amy B or I had eaten breakfast, and more importantly I hadn’t had my coffee yet. They let us know there was a big mall with plenty coffee and breakfast options at the end of the line and they would meet us wherever we decided on.

We found a coffee shop called Pret-a-Manger (which means ready-to-eat). However, every time I saw this chain in Hong Kong I would think about that 1994 movie Pret-A-Porter (ready-to-wear) and that soundtrack song ‘Here Comes the Hotstepper’  by Ini Kamoze would pop in to my head. Literally, every time I saw that sign throughout Hong Kong, I would hear that song in my head. We found a ‘healthy’ shelf for breakfast options and picked out a chia  almond milk cup with nuts and dried fruit on top. I also had a cappuccino. I couldn’t wait to drink that down as it was near 11 and I had a slight I-haven’t-had-coffee-yet-the-Dodgers-are-now-losing headache kicking in. The girls arrived soon after we did, and after we finished off our breakfast and coffee, we walked over to the 360 Cable Cars.

We had two different types of reservations, 2 booked in regular cable cars, and 2 booked in crystal bottom cable cars that allowed you to see below you as you were headed up the mountain. When we got to the entrance Amy T and Shelly sweetly gave us their crystal cabin reservations so that we could get the ‘full view’ below us. We parted ways in line for about a 15 minute wait. This was WITH a reservation. The line for people that hadn’t pre-purchased was MUCH longer. Again, we were grateful that Amy T had us purchase the tickets the night before.

While we were waiting in line, I tried an experiment. I tried to see if I could get an older Chinese person to smile back at me. In general, the older generation seems very stoic. So I picked out this little old lady (and they are ALL little over there) and I kept making eye contact and gently smiling and she would look away, then she would look back, but not smile.

Finally, after a few rounds of this, I could see the beginnings of a smile at the corner of her lips. They were a bit ahead of us in line but with the line zig zag formation, we kept passing them. As it turned out, we ended up boarding the same car as them when the line keeper asked for a party of two which allowed Amy B and me to come forward.

So there I was sitting across from my ‘smile’ target. I could see she was shyly looking my way, but not quite ready to give me the full smile. We started engaging with her grandson and granddaughter who spoke a bit of English and we were laughing with them. All of a sudden, everything changed for her, the walls came down and she was giving me a much bigger smile. I have pasted a clip below of footage Amy took while we were in the Crystal Cabin and you can see her across from us in a magenta top. Not only is she smiling, she is asking if we want to switch sides so we can have a better view. I felt like a had negotiated a successful international peace treaty.

Our cable cab arrived on the mountain before Shelly and Amy T so we walked over to the Starbucks and ordered some drinks for all of us. Amy waited at the table outside to save it and I went inside to order. And well, well, well wouldn’t you know, as I was walking out, here comes grandma coming and and guess what? She greeted me with…that’s right, you guessed it, the biggest smile yet. I felt so happy in that moment for my connection with the little grandma.

When I went back out to our table with our drinks, Shelly and Amy T were already there. We were all sitting around and enjoying our coffee and teas when the cutest little Asian girl, in a yellow shirt came right up to our table and started engaging with Shelly. Her grandfather was a few feet away, smiling and keeping an eye on her. She was such a happy little girl, and communicating with us through her laughter, eyes, and smile. Then she walked off, then she came right back and started smiling and laughing with Amy. It was as if she really had something to communicate to us and she was probably mesmerized  to encounter two blondes (Shelly and Amy).

After we finished our coffee and teas we got up to head over to a path called the Wisdom Trail. To get there we had to walk through the theme-park-like Ngong Ping Village (it reminded me of Mammoth Village). The walk up to the Wisdom Path was beautiful and all paved. It only took about 20 minutes to walk up there at a leisurely pace and it was nice to feel like you were in nature. It was a very easy and level hike with lots of stops for pictures.

After we finished Wisdom Path we headed back down through the now crowded village and walked quickly in hopes of not getting stuck in a long line to head back down in a cable cab. We were in luck, there was a show going on in the center of the village, and most folks were engaged looking at the show so we were able to quickly pass through and get to a no line situation to head back down the mountain. I stopped to take a quick video of the show below.

Once we got back to base, Amy B and I were hungry, we were on fumes by now as it was already 3pm and all we’d had was that tiny chia cup for breakfast. We found a Pizza Express that surprisingly served delicious salads and VERY quickly. We finished up in less than 30 minutes. We still were planning on heading over to Tai O Fishing Village and the clock was ticking. It would take at least an hour to get there on a bus.

We were having a little challenge finding the right bus to take to the fishing village, and Ubers weren’t available, so we grabbed a cab and had a little bit of a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. This very engaging man who referred to us all as a car full of ‘elegant ladies’ took us on the 30 minute drive to the other side of the island and was truly whipping around corners, even with the knowledge of many cows wandering on these roads that sometimes wandered on the middle of the road ‘and might just be laying there’, he said. Say what?

At that point Amy T is up front with him and starts engaging him in hopes that he’ll slow down a little. So we learned a lot about him as she starts peppering him with questions. He drives cab to make ends meet and he has to live in a tall apartment complex with rent of about $350 a month. He had 5 children with a span of 25 years between them, the youngest was in University now. He said, ‘I had 3 wives, of course.’ Say what? I guess we had a real Hong Kong ladies man on our hands driving us around. We should have been tipped off when he was referring to us as ‘elegant ladies.’ Great opening line. He left us with his card so we could call him to pick us up when we were done. This was an old fishing village, and we weren’t sure what the cab situation would be when we were done, so we were taking his card as an insurance policy.

Tai O was once an important trading and fishing port to China a century ago, today it is in decline, but offers a very intriguing glimpse of life in a traditional fishing village. We took a boat ride through the center of ‘town’ if you considered ‘town’ to be a waterway, like Venice. We also went out to the ocean in this boat hoping to see the famous Pink Dolphins found in this part of the world. At one point as we were out there waiting to see some, Amy T looked at me and said, ‘You are praying for dolphins. right?’ I thought, oh that’s right, yes, of course, I’m praying for dolphins. We didn’t see any, but the boat ride out there was beautiful as the sun was setting on this beautiful old fishing village.

We walked through the village some more taking pictures of their village life. It felt a wee bit intrusive, but it seemed like they were used to it. And as a village on decline I’m sure they were thankful for the tourist dollars that came to the fishing village. It reminded me of the simple life that I have seen on the island my mother was born on in Brazil. The ocean smell, the simplicity of the people, the strong community feeling.

When it was about 30 minutes before we were supposed to be picked up, our driver told us to call him, so Amy T did just that. When she called he picked up and said, ‘I’m busy, call me back.’ Huh? Just what was this ladies man up to, anyway? Ha, ha. Well, it all worked out and they were able to connect a little bit later and he said he would pick us up in 30 minutes.

Amy T and Shelly wanted to walk deeper into the Village and Amy B and I had to desperately go to the ladies room. This Village didn’t look like much for good bathroom prospects, it could take a while to find something. We told them we would meet them at the entrance, near the taxi stand.

We found a bathroom and Amy went in there first while I held the bags outside, you just didn’t want to put anything down. After a few minutes, I decided I really needed to get in there and go and saw that they only had squat toilets. No!!! A squat toilet is one that is level (or, pardon the pun, “flush”) with the floor. I was envisioning, with no experience, this potentially would not go well for me. I didn’t want to risk any ‘stuff’ potentially on any part of my clothes. I had to think quickly and went outside again and saw they had a handicap sign on another door. Surely, they don’t expect the handicap to squat!? I opened the door to the handicap bathroom, and sure enough – there was a normal toilet in there. Saved!

We all met out by the taxis and apparently our driver sent a little old lady to pick us up that could barely see over the dashboard (I know, who am I to talk?). She actually was a much safer driver and it didn’t seem long to get back to base at all. At one point Shelly had a coughing fit in the car and the little old lady turned around and looked at her and said, ‘You okay, lady?’ We all laughed.

Once we got back to base we took the metro from Lantau Island back over to Hong Kong Island. It was about 8pm when we got back to our stop at the Metro. Amy B and I were hungry again and had really wanted to try a few of the  restaurants that our friend, Will, had recommended in SoHo. We asked the girls if they wanted to join us for a night out on the town or head back to their hotel. They opted for the latter, both tired, and Shelly needing rest for that cold and cough.

Amy B and I were surprisingly not tired at all. We think the day out in nature and in a fishing village felt super restorative. We went back to our hotel, changed, freshened up and grabbed a cab to head to dinner. Will had told us, there would be about a 90-minute wait at this restaurant, Ho Lee Fook. But to not worry, there was a cool and elegant (there is that word again) bar around the corner to grab a drink and wait for your table. Sure enough, we get to Ho Lee Fook at 9pm and they tell us, ’90 minute wait’ and they took my cell number and said they’d call me. We weren’t even phased by this as we were prepared by Will.

We headed around the corner and found the bar. Sure enough, it was a very elegant atmosphere and they sat us in front of the MOST entertaining and talented bartender I have ever seen in my life. He gets a 10+ for his technique and style in whipping together the drinks, and the drinks themselves, well only the pics below will do them justice – and the taste was always perfectly balanced and incredible.

One hour in there felt like 5 minutes it was so fun and entertaining and they put a little bowl in front of us with little chips of different shapes and sizes. Amy says, “These kind of taste like those little chips you ate when you were little that come in a can that cradle each other.” I say, “You mean, Pringles? Oh yeah, they do taste like that!” Just then I was texting Will to tell him we had made it to, Quinary, for drinks. He texts back, ‘Are you eating Pringles?’ We totally started laughing. How did he know?

Check out this video of the bartender making the lemon meringue drink!

They actually called us within an hour for our table at Ho Lee Fook, so we wrapped up but not before I gushed over the hipster bartender and told him I would be back and I was convinced he was the best in the world and he humbly wouldn’t even accept my accolades, but said ‘Thank you so much, I will see you tomorrow.’

We headed back over to the restaurant and they took us downstairs to a dark atmosphere with pumping hip-hop music. It was a funky but cool place, inspired in the spirit of late-night Chinatown hangouts in the 1960’s New York.  Despite the awkwardness of the phonetic pronunciation of Ho Lee Fook, it actually means ‘good fortune for your mouth.’ And that it was! Wow, the cuisine here was truly off the charts. We ordered an autumn salad that was creative and inspired, chicken wings like no other, set in a bed of dried red chili peppers with equal heat inside and out as you ate the wings, followed by incredibly tasty lamb dan dan noodles. Wow, just wow.

We even ordered dessert on this night. It was their dessert called Breakfast 2.0. It was a bed of cornflakes, topped with raspberries a scoop of ice cream, with cocoa coffee crumbs on top. Yum. Thoroughly stuffed, and me now WAY OFF the Keto rails tonight, we paid the bill and called for a Taxi.

It was a fun Taxi ride home, we were buzzing all the way home over the energizing night and the opportunity to experience the Hong Kong restaurant scene that we had heard so much about before we left. We got back to the hotel around midnight, not even really tired, but to the same question we asked every night, “Do you want to get ready first?” The girls were going to be hiking in the morning and we were going to sleep in again and have a mellow Friday morning to recover from the full day.

This morning I woke up remembering it was Tuesday evening back home, and the first game of the World Series would be on around 8:09am, local Hong Kong time. I quietly exited the room so Amy could sleep some more and went up to the breakfast area that had a beautiful view so I could eat breakfast and watch the game, and yes, blog a little.

Game 1 of the World Series was a seesaw of scoring before the Rod Sox finally went ahead by a score of 8-4 in the 7th inning. I realized, by then, the Dodgers probably were going to lose and went back to the room to start getting ready. We were going to meet the girls at the train stop around noon and head to the Hong Kong Museum of History.

In the guidebook that Amy T had lent me prior to the trip, this must see place pointed out that this museum would help give context to your experience in Hong Kong. Being the stereotypical American that I am, I don’t get curious about details of a lot of other countries unless I am going to visit or have visited. My only real data point about Hong Kong thus far in my life is growing up and remembering seeing a few things around the house or clothes that said ‘Made in Hong Kong.’ Also, there was Hong Kong Phooey, the Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera that I watched growing up. He was a dog working at a police station that disguised himself as a mild-manner janitor, but actually he was skilled at Kung Fu and would use it to fight crime. As I type this, I realize how absurd this all sounds and laugh to think as a child, I thought that all sounded reasonable.

I figured a visit to this museum would be a good thing for me to get a much better education on Hong Kong, and the ladies also all were up for going. There were going to be eight galleries for us to walk through of Hong Kongs’ history, starting with the natural environment and pre-historic Hong Kong, and ending with the territory’s return to China (from Great Britain) in 1997.

As we started through the museum, we really didn’t have a good sense of how large the exhibition was going to be so we were spending way too much time listening and looking at every detail of the natural environment in the first section. Amy B and I were literally listening to just about every English audio guide on the animals that are native to the area – including a South China Tiger, different snakes, a black bear, we learned a lot indeed, but laughed at ourselves when it was all over and we were running out of gas to think we spent so much time focused in this area. Amy T and Shelly were feeling the same way and only hanging back in this area because they thought we were VERY interested in these details and didn’t want to rush us. Ha, ha.

About the time we were in the archeology section and looking at recreations of grave sites, ancient jewelry, and old pottery – Amy T comes up to Amy B and whispers, ‘You have some admirers.’ We both turn around and see a small group of Chinese School Children, about middle school age, standing near and staring. One bold girl steps forward and says to Amy, ‘You are so beautiful, may we have your picture?’ Amy smiles at her, introduces herself, and asks the girl her name and looks over at me. Then, somehow, I shift into agent mode and start talking to them to direct the photo session of the newly discovered starlet.

The one girl explained in very simple English that they were a group of students from China and they were so happy to meet us and wanted to know where we were from. They asked again for a picture, I offered to take their camera and take the picture of the group with Amy, but I don’t think they understood me and were motioning to see if they could do selfies with her. It was a precious East meets West moment. They were clearly star struck for a moment as we also were all equally enamored by them and their wide-eyed innocence and charm. When they were done with the photos, the one girl said to Amy. ‘You are beautiful. Thank you, I love you, sister!’

We continued through the museum looking at the different exhibits. One thing that fascinated me was the ‘marriage chair’ that carried the bride to the groom’s house in a marriage procession. Marriages were pre-arranged, and after the arrangement an older respected married woman would come bless the future home and speak fertility over the dwelling while the bride stayed with her parents in their home for a month prior to the wedding. She was also required to weep for a month over her anxiety of the upcoming wedding marital rites. On her wedding day, she would be carried in a procession like the one in the picture below.

We saw many things in the museum including colorful replicas of dwellings of early inhabitants, traditional costumes and beds, a tram from 1913, a model of a Junk Boat, and WWII film footage including interviews with Chinese and foreigners taken prisoner by the Japanese. One section was devoted to the formation of Hong Kong’s urban culture, featuring replicas of a retro grocery store, soda fountain and interiors of a poor man’s home.

About the time we got 3/4 of the way through, we all decided we were famished, it was now around 2pm and we hadn’t had lunch yet and were ready to go.  As we looked to find the exits, we realized we were now in the holy grail of the museum tour. What we had actually come to understand more about, specifically, the most recent history of Hong Kong – when the Brits arrived, when they left, the occupation Japan, how that impacted Hong Kongers, etc. We pushed through for about another 30-45 minutes to give ourself more time in this more interesting section. We were already kicking ourselves and laughing for spending so much time up front looking at every detail of the environment and animal exhibits. We were really out of gas now and needed lunch.

As we were leaving I started looking up nearby restaurants with good rating and a good variety of menu options. I found a place not too far from the museum and we walked in there around 3pm.  It was a food and wine bar – I was hoping for my first good glass of wine of the trip. As we were looking at the menu, Amy B noticed a sign that read ‘Half price on all menu items from 2pm –  6pm, every day.’ That seemed too good to be true as this was a bit of an upscale place ($$ – $$$). Yes, it was true. We all enjoyed our selections and a chance to recharge before moving on to our next thing.

After our late lunch it was time to head to The Peak. Victoria Peak is the highest hill on Hong Kong Island. The Peak is a major tourist attraction that offers views of Central, Victoria Harbour, Lamma Island, and the surrounding islands. Amy T said we had the choice of riding a bus to the peak or taking the Peak Tram, a popular – almost vertical funicular ride, which would guaranteed have a 1.5 hour wait to get on. We opted for the bus ride, which actually took about an hour up a windy road, but was preferable to waiting in line and getting crammed on a tram. We chatted on the ride and it actually went really fast.

Once up at The Peak, you realize it really is a major tourist attraction with 7 million annual visitors and 2 shopping centers, with an observation deck. We headed up to the observation deck, which is a paid admission up several flights of escalators. Shelly stayed behind to first use the bathroom. She later came up and joined us and said that was officially the most unpleasant bathroom of the trip.

We actually had MANY conversations about bathrooms on the trip and the different styles. I kept getting confused when I would go into a woman’s stall and find the seat up, EVERY time. I also would see a sign on the door that read, ‘For your safety, please do not squat on the toilet seat.’ I would think, huh? What? Like don’t put my rear end on the toilet? Is that a squat? Or don’t hover over the seat, is that a squat? Well, as it turns out, a regular practice over there is to put both feet on the rim of the toilet seat, squat down and go. The same as you would position yourself if it were just a hole on the floor. I couldn’t even comprehend that people were balancing on toilet rims over here, but toilet after toilet, with the lid up let me know, yes, that’s how they roll over here. I never did try that squatting custom. I was still thinking about my fancy heated toilet back at Mandapa.

Once we were on top of the observation deck, we took in the views and snapped photos from several different vantage points. Amy T was working with me on camera settings and had brought her tripod for longer exposures. She took my favorite shot of the night, the picture of Amy B and me in front of the skyline. It looks like a simple shot, but really this took a lot of set-up to get right, including Shelly as an excellent assistant to the photographer Amy T. I wish I had a picture of Shelly shining two iPhone lights on our faces, vs. using a flash for lighting, which would have blown out the background. Shelly definitely gets the award for best trooper in this production. It was a little cool and damp up there and her cough was getting worse. It was time for all of us to head back down from The Peak.

We passed the long line for The Peak Tram down, that looked like a 1.5 wait and went over to the taxi stand, another long line. We decided to test out Uber at this time and had a little bit of a shuffle figuring out where it was going to pick us up, but we finally figured it out and ran up to a sleek black Mercedes with sleek driver. We zoomed down the mountain and back to our hotel in less than 20 minutes (vs. the 1 hour bus ride up the mountain). It was totally worth about a $10 Uber ride. Both taxis and Ubers are relatively cheap in Hong Kong.

We parted ways with Shelly and Amy T so Shelly could get hopefully a solid night of sleep to recover more quickly. I had also brought some Nyquil capsules on the trip and gave them to her in hopes that it would knock her out overnight.

Amy B and I were a little hungry and went to a noodle bowl place in the hotel complex that served noodles in a spicey and flavorful broth. It was almost 9pm and they closed at 9:30pm. This was about as close to fast food eating as we would get on this trip. It had been a little chilly and damp at The Peak, so this warm bowl of noodles hit the spot. And by chilly, I mean in the low 70’s with dampness. Ha,ha. I guess we were already adjusting to the mid-80’s daytime heat and humidity, which we were told wasn’t as hot as usual. We were all so thankful for that! Still, the humidity, was doing its thing with my hair as the curly bangs show below. Every day I Ieft the hotel with straight hair and came home with curly hair. Curly hair and noodles, quite a combo.

Before we left on the trip, the ladies came to my house for dinner to discuss the trip. We thought we would have plenty of time before the trip to squeeze a dinner in, and when it came down to it, it was a last minute stretch to even get the 4 of us together for a few hours. That is the pace we were all running at before we left.

Thank goodness we did squeeze the dinner in though, as Amy T had thoughtfully prepared 4 different day itineraries for us to consider while we were in Hong Kong. She organized it by areas of town to make it the most efficient use of our time. We reviewed these over dinner and all agreed they looked like great suggestions.

So on this day we would be following the activities she had suggested in the ‘Central Hong Kong’ and ‘Kowloon’ itineraries. Central is probably the most urban, hip and trendy part of town on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is on the mainland. We started the morning with a taxi ride over to meet Shelly and Amy T at Hopewell Center, which is the same area where we had the foot massages the night before.  Below is a quick video I took on the ride over. This was very typical of all of my taxi rides in Hong Kong. The driver would usually have a news channel playing. Also, note the driver side in Hong Kong is on the right side of the car.

We agreed to meet at a Starbucks which also had a raw juice place close by for healthy shots to get our day started. Amy B and I got there first and it was actually a Starbucks reserve so I ordered a macchiato while Amy B went to find the raw juice bar (of course), ha, ha. She came back with a raw juice, chia pudding breakfast and some granola peanut butter breakfast balls. I had a few of the breakfast balls, they were so good and tasted like cookies. I was thinking as I was eating them, ‘wow, can this really be healthy?’

Shelly and Amy T show up and they say they had already experienced a full day before they even got to us. Neither of them slept well because Shelly picked up something on the way over with all of the coughers on the plane and little sleep. She now was in the early stages of a cold and cough and it was tough for her to sleep the night before as it was for Amy T. They also were getting adjusted to the new time zone, so they were up very early.

As they said, they had a whole day they had lived before they met us at 10:30am. Shelly also relayed a story about a LARGE water bottle she accidentally launched down a long MTR escalator this morning to the HORROR of all of the commuters on the escalator with her. She said it just kept tumbling like a slinky down the escalator to the shock and awe of everyone else. We were all laughing about it then, but in the moment, Shelly assured us, none of the commuters thought this was funny. Amy T also had a water spill on her white pants (thank goodness it was only water), but was now walking around with somewhat wet clothes. They were both in good moods though and positive that the rest of this day would be much better!

After we all finished with coffees and chia and health shots, we headed off to Wan Chai for a walk through the Wet Market. ‘Wet Market’ in Hong Kong refers to markets which sell just about everything – old school style. You can get everything from fruit and vegetables to meat, to live fish, to flowers. And when I say meat, I mean meat – all parts of meat including the stomach, head, organs, etc. and they are all on display. Also, there are many different types of animals such as chickens, snake, and pork. The fish selection is also extensive including live fish and crabs in tanks with barely enough water to cover them. We even saw  a few flop out and the person standing by would kick it aside casually while they helped the current customer and then flop it back in after the customer left.

This was a great place to take photos. It first hit me now, the irony. Usually the cliche is visiting Asians in the US with cameras taking photos of everything. And now here the tables were turned, and it was me a Caucasian in Asia with a big Canon strapped around my neck. Amy T also enjoys photography and has a big camera. So we made quite a pair, looking like journalists combing the streets with our big DSLR cameras. I really appreciated that she was into photography also because she continually weaved in ‘this is a great place for photos’ into our daily adventures

Then you had Shelly and Amy B just using their iPhones, and wouldn’t you know, many times at the end of the day when we were all reviewing photos, I would think ‘Wow, they got the best pics!’ Go figure.

We then rode a double decker trolly car up to the Central area and walked around a bit looking up and down the different streets before we decided we were all a little hot and hungry for lunch. Amy T’s husband had recommended a Brazilian BBQ place that wasn’t too far so we walked there. Walking around using Google Maps is a bit of a challenge here as Google Maps doesn’t do a great job of orienting you or following your location. It can make finding places a little tough.

Finally we found the Brazilian BBQ place and were THRILLED that it was cooler inside, but probably still not cool enough for Amy T and Shelly who were hot and also now fighting the fatigue of jet lag as they had been up so early. I talked to them about how a Brazilian BBQ place works with meat that keeps coming until you say you are done. We also all ordered Caipirinhas – a Brazilian drink made of Cacacha (a alcohol distilled from sugar cane, like rum). What I LOVED about these is that they came with real sugar canes in them. I didn’t realize what it was sticking out of my drink until I tasted it and then I thought ‘Oh fresh sugar cane, where have you been? I have missed you!’ I don’t think I’ve had sugar cane since I was in elementary school. Where do you even buy sugar cane at home. Feeling like I need to now add it to my weekly grocery list.

We all enjoyed this lunch thoroughly and probably overate. Shelly and I were talking several hours later, still not hungry, that we missed the feeling of being hungry and wondered if it would ever return. Still, we didn’t mind that we kept saying yes, to more delicious meet and Brazilian Cheese bread, as it was all so delicious and our server was a Brazilian and fun to talk to as we asked him questions about how he ended up in Hong Kong from Brazil.

After lunch we toured around Central and SoHo (name is dirived from its location south of Hollywood Road) district. Amy T showed us all of the ‘hot spots’ and took us on the mid-level escalators which are the longest covered escalators in the world. The now vibrant character of SoHo is attributed to the creation of this escalator system in 1993. This part of town seemed very fun and trendy with cool shops, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, art galleries, and antique stores all around you.

This is the hot spot at night because of the restaurant scene. It is an intoxicating mix of old buildings, colors, little ally ways, and bustling City.  Also the sidewalks here are so very uneven. I kept telling myself, I am constantly one step away from another doozy of an ankle sprain – be careful. A few times I would trip and Amy B would look at me with big eyes as if to say, ‘oh gosh, be careful.’

There was an Anthony Bourdin travel special on Hong Kong that we all watched before we left and he spent a lot of time in this part of town highlighting the unique areas of this part of town. I feel like Amy T did a really good job to make sure we saw them all, including a visit to a street with the famous street food stalls that also provides little makeshift tables where you can eat. The kitchen set-ups were very old school and hodge podgy, but it seemed to be hopping with lots of business. The sizzling dishes, the clatter, the aromas, the crowds, are apparently all part of one of the best food experiences you can have in Hong Kong. Too bad we were all too full from Brazilian BBQ to try one of these food stalls. But really, it was okay with me. I’m always leary to try anything from any food stall in any foreign country. Probably 95% of the time, you’d be okay. But oh that 5% when it hits you and you go down with violent food sickness, not something I’m willing to risk on vacation. It happened to me ONCE in 1991 and let’s just say, I will never forget!

When then walked towards the ferry building so that we could take a ferry across the Harbour to view the Hong Kong Island skyline. Before we hit the ferry building, there was a really neat little courtyard for people watching and resting. So we spent about 20-30 minutes there just enjoying the scene and watching the locals.

We then walked towards the ferry building and my eyes soaked in the sights along the way. A very cool Apple Store on an overpass, what looked like a food festival under tents (think Taste of Newport), a big Ferris wheel, and my favorite, a little Hong Kong man street musician belting out ‘It never rains in California.’ It’s amazing that as far away from home as we were, Amy B and I felt like it never felt too different too us. It all felt oddly familiar. I think it is a combination of it being very modern here in many ways, being exposed to a lot of Asian culture in California throughout our lives, having visited other big Cities, and experiences like this where a street musician is actually singing a song about where I’m from – Southern California.

It was a quick 15 min Ferry Ride over to what they call the Kowloon side of Hong Kong which is on the mainland and also is the body of land that connects to China. From this side of Hong Kong, you can look back at the Hong Kong Island skyline and it absolutely blows you away with the immensity of it. It feels like you are looking at a skyline that is 5x the size of the New York skyline. Many of these buildings feel bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. We got there at about dusk so it was nice to see the buildings light up. They are also super creative in how they light up buildings, I saw all sorts of things – everything from what looks like text messages scrolling up these 120 level buildings, to the time of day displayed, to moving images of Pandas. It feels like there is always something to look at on the buildings.

Amy T had told me to bring my tripod so that I could practice getting some nice evening shots of the skyline using a shutter exposure. I took several, it is so hard to get everything just right. My favorite were pictures I took were of the ‘Junk Boats’ with the red sails moving past us. They seem like such a contrast out of a different era, against the outrageously modern skyline. ‘Junk Boats’ are traditional Chinese fishing vessels which have been around since the 2nd Century A.D. Their red sails made a beautiful reflection on the water. It was so peaceful to watch them float past us. The weather here has also been really wonderful and not too hot, but made for nice balmy evenings, no jackets required and no rain.

We decided then to head over to the Ritz Carlton ‘Ozone’ bar in this part of town. It boasts the highest views of the Hong Kong and is supposedly the Highest Bar in the World. On our way to grab a cab, there was this little ice cream truck where this little old man was serving soft serve ice cream cones. I thought that was awesome and he had a very hot business going with a long line going. I have never seen a little Ice Cream car that actually serves soft serve vanilla cones. Another line I noticed was for a bus. It is amazing that they all lined up single file to wait for the bus and know to board in order. It’s like an extended Southwest boarding line, only no one gave out any numbers, they just follow their arrival order.

We took the cab over to the Ozone Bar and I want to say we pressed something outrageous like the 118th floor to get to the top. Your ears definitely popped on the ride up. It was a little bit of a hazy night from up there so it was hard to see much in detail. Also, there was no place to sit with a view. The decor also seemed kind of Vegas, in that it was extremely ornate and glitzy. It was fun to come up and see the view from here, but really about now all we were thinking about was just getting foot massages again to end the night verses trying to find a table in the crowded bar and having a drink up here.

We hopped right on the Metro adjacent to the Ritz, which also goes underwater, so we were able to easily and quickly get back to Hong Kong Island near our hotels and the foot massage place. Amy B was a little hungry as it was now 8:30pm. The rest of us had consumed tons of meat at the Brazilian restaurant and were still digesting. We decided I would go with Amy B while she grabbed a quick bite and Amy T and Shelly would get going ahead of us to the foot massage place. They were looking to have 75 minute foot massages tonight and Amy and I were good with 50 minutes. That gave Amy B and me a 25 minute cushion ahead to meet up with them again. Also, Shelly had been a trooper all day and stayed energetic and present in all that we were doing, but her cough sounded like it was getting much worse, so probably best for her to get her foot massage and get to bed as soon as possible.

When we arrived at the foot massage place, Amy T and Shelly were already in the same chairs and in the same room we were in the night before. Shelly literally looked conked out sleeping, and Amy T was raising her eyebrows at me motioning for me to check my phone that she was texting me. Her text read ‘My lady keeps falling asleep. Not sure what to do?’ I looked over and it did look like her lady was dozing. Then we both started giggling at absurdity of it.

I looked down at my massage lady that had just arrived and she put a finger condom on her pointer finger. Hmm, not sure why that might be necessary? Then Amy B’s massage lady arrived next to mine. And from the MOMENT she arrived, mine would NOT stop talking to the other massage lady. It sounded like angry talk, as if they were on a break and complaining about their bosses in the break room. And the look on my lady’s face was that of one who is all depressed. It was like watching a Hong Kong soap opera. At one point Amy T texted me jokingly, ‘Get your woman under control.’ As she was disrupting the quiet bliss of the dark room we had experienced the night before. I started laughing at the absurdity of all of it imagining just how was I going to do that?

My lady was real angry and seemed to be taking it out on my massage, but she wasn’t hurting me. She was just more very distracted and didn’t seem to have a plan with the foot and calf massage like the massage person the night before. In fact all of the massage ladies tonight seemed not on top of their game. Amy T and I continued to text and laugh, Shelly was knocked out, and Amy B was resting in her seat next to me with her eyes closed. It had been a very full day, so even not the best massage ladies served a good purpose to help all of us relax, if only mine wasn’t talking in an angry voice for all of the 50 minutes. Amy T’s continued to keep falling asleep, making bodily sounds, and kneading her calf in the oddest way. I got the giggles at the absurdity of the whole scene tonight and at one point couldn’t stop laughing. It was the ONE time my massage lady stopped talking to look at me to make sure I was okay. I think she thought I was crying.

Well, when all was said and done, we each paid for our massage and tipped our ladies modest amounts. Each one stands by the door waiting for a tip after you pay for your massage. It is a humble posture and you feel bad for complaining about any of it. After all, who would want this job to rub people’s feet all day long and then to have to wait around for your tip. I had so much compassion for all of them in that moment. It actually made me want to tip so much more, but I now knew the difference between a good experience here and one that was mediocre and left the tip as-is as I didn’t want to reinforce a mediocre job with a good tip.

The four of us said our goodbyes after that, they went to their hotel and we went to ours. When Amy B and I got back to the room 10:30pm we were thinking this had been a long day and we wanted to sleep in a little tomorrow and got to the Hong Kong History Museum, to make a bit more of a mellow day. I also was hoping to watch a bit of the World Series game that would be on in the morning and try to get caught up with a little more blogging. Amy T and Shelly were good with that, and rest for Shelly and a good nights sleep would be important for her and for all us.

I appreciate that Amy T and Shelly were super accommodating the whole trip to our schedule and whatever we wanted to do at whatever time. It was really nice to feel we could see a lot and to also be able to rest when needed. I couldn’t afford to come home sick or tired as I would need to hit it hard at work as soon as I got home.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful skyline view of Hong Kong mainland. We are staying on Hong Kong Island. Before I came here, I had no sense of either or that there are many islands off the coast of Hong Kong mainland. But I’m learning a lot about this country on this trip. That is one of the best parts about traveling. Learning about new cultures and feeling so curious about how they live.

When I woke up, I went up to the breakfast on the 40th floor, and found a great place to look at the view and blog. The breakfast level itself with teaming with so many people, it didn’t at all seem relaxing to me, so I went up the stairs to a more private area and it was perfect and peaceful and it was nice to have some stillness to blog and reflect before we met up with our friends for the day.

Shelly and Amy Temple flew in the night before and we figured they may need more rest this morning so we got a little bit of a late morning start, which was totally fine with us. After the 7:30am starts of the Israel trip, we were happy for more restful mornings and days up to this point.

Amy and I were excited to see some sights in Hong Kong.  We left the hotel in our first Hong Kong Taxi a little after 11am headed towards our meet-up spot in ‘Times Square.’ Hong Kong is like England and Indonesia where they drive on the other side of the road. So happy to be in the back of a cab and not having to drive myself around. The little red cabs are all very clean and it is an ‘offense’ to not have your seatbelt on. He pulled up to Times Square and we popped out. We had no idea if this was Times Square but just assumed, as it seemed like the end of our ride. There were all kinds of Mickey Mouse statues in the square, we walked around a little bit and then saw them in a distance. They looked cute in two little dresses and sandles and how fun to meet up with other friends so far away from home.

Amy Temple had lived here for 2 years with her husband and daughter and left about 2 years ago. She was going to be our guide the next several days. What a relief to have someone ask us what we want to see and set up the itineraries for each day. She knows how to get around easily on the public transportation system that includes mini-buses, big double-decker buses, trolley cars, underground trains, ferries and all kinds of boats. You buy what they call an “Octapus Card” and load it with money and it gets you on and off any transit without having to deal with cash and change. It is very convenient. You can also use the card to pay at many stores in town.

The big convenience store in Hong Kong is 7-11. You can do many transactions there, buy stamps, fill up your Octapus Card, etc. You see them on every corner. It is much like how you see Tobacconist shops in Italy everywhere. It is so weird to see so many 7-11’s everywhere. It feels out of place.

Our first stop was going to be to what they call the Southside in Repulse Bay. This was the area of town that Amy T lived, so she was quite familiar with the highlights. We took a mini-bus #40 about halfway there. These mini-buses are fascinating. They seat only about 19 passengers and no standing. Shelly was quickly reminded by an older woman across the aisle from her to not drink the water bottle she was holding and to fasten her seatbelt. Shelly says she is a magnet for extra instruction anywhere she travels. People feel compelled to tell her what she can and can’t do. Taking a queue from what Shelly was being told, I quickly buckled my seatbelt.

Our first stop was for coffee. We sat in a coffee shop in a really pretty shopping area and chatted. We heard the horrors of their story flying over the day before. Bottom line, don’t fly Delta unless you want to get bumped from the premium economy seat you paid for because they changed the plane they were flying over and had less premium economy seats. They also split them up and put one of them way in the back of the plane of a middle seat. Fortunately, they were able to find seats together, but this made for a stressful start to the trip. Oh, and also, Delta also didn’t order their gluten-free meal, but recommended they could have all of the ice-cream and gluten free crackers available on board for the 11 hour flight that was stopping in Japan. Huh? Yah, don’t fly Delta. They said, eventually this story will maybe be funny, but not quite yet. They were troopers were being so cheery already on this morning.

We then walked down to Repulse Bay, which is a hot spot for Chinese tourists. There were tour buses everywhere and it was teaming with Chinese tourists. We were hungry after walking around Repulse Bay for a while so I found a restaurant called, Limewood. It looked like it had good options, nice ambiance, and it had great reviews. While the food was indeed good, it took over an hour for Amy’s ‘long line fish’ to arrive. And that was only after we complained. They kept saying it takes 20 minutes, we said…um, it’s been an hour. I asked to speak to a manager and she told me, it takes 20 minutes, but realized it has been a long wait so she said she would take something off of our bill for our long wait. In the end, she took an $8 appetizer off of the bill. Huh? We actually knew what went wrong, a couple that was sat a least a half hour  after us, was brought the exact same fish Amy had ordered around the time they were bringing the rest of OUR food. They had put her fish at the wrong table and didn’t realize their mistake. That couple was even LONG GONE by the time Amy’s fish finally came. To them, them must have walked out of there thinking, WOW, awesome service – food arrives 5 minutes after we order. To us, well, there is a 1-star Trip Advisor review coming their way soon!

After lunch, we. boarded a double decker bus and sat up on top in the very front. That was quite a wild ride as many branches would hit the front window on the side Amy B was on and would startle all of us. They had a severed Typhoon here a few weeks ago, so there are a lot of broken trees in the area that haven’t been cleaned up yet.

Once we arrived, we walked around the Stanley Plaza area for a while. Really nice shops and food markets that we browsed through.  It also had what is called the Stanley Market – a quick trip through what is essentially a flea market for tourists. As flea markets go, it was pretty fancy. But, as with all flea markets, I’m never drawn to buy a thing.

After we were done, we took another double-decker bus back to Arberdeen Harbour. It was fun to see so many different style boats floating past us from so many different periods of time. One little boat caught my attention, he was trying to talk to me as he wanted to take the four of us on a Harbour Tour. In the end, we decided to take his tour.

He was so cute and did a great job, he had a special seat and a microphone and he ‘narrated’ the whole ride around the Harbour. It was a crack up because we couldn’t really understand him, but he was so sincere you just looked at him and nodded your head every once in a while so he felt like you were tracking with his tour.

He really didn’t need to say a thing, it was so beautiful at dusk to boat up and own the Harbour looking at all types of boats. The lights on the skyline were spectacular and the weather was perfect. He even took us up close to the famous floating restaurant. Now THAT is a gaudy spectacle to be seen!

After the tour we were hungry, it was getting quite late around 7:30pm, so we did a quick dinner at a great burger place Amy Temple knew about. I decided to have another beer. I tried their local IPA. I loved it, what has gotten into me? While we were eating dinner, Amy Temple asked if we wanted foot massages tonight, she knew a good place. So we all said, ‘Yes, please’ to that and she booked us 8:30pm appointments and asked for a private room. Wow. Okay.

Once we got to the foot massage place, they gave Amy and I shorts to change into (as we both were wearing jeans). Then they sat us in this dark room with 6 recliners – 3 on each wall facing each other. We had picked a 50 minute foot massage. They also had a 75 minute option. But neither Amy nor I could imagine we could sit still for a 75 minute foot massage, and I actually don’t have much foot to massage. So the 4 of us sat in the private room with each of us having an attendant to massage our feet for 50 minutes. They started with putting your feet in warm water, I think that alone (after we walked around all day) would have been worth the money. Only a loud belch from one of the attendants pierced the silence. We all looked at each other as if to say with our eyes, did that just happen? We looked over to Amy T and she nodded, yes. She explained later, in this culture it is considered unhealthy to keep any gas inside out of either end. So we were lucky it was only a belch. Regardless, we loved the foot massages.  It’s not expensive at all to do this and it is a ‘thing’ to do in Hong Kong, there are foot massage places everywhere.

We pretty much all almost fell asleep, it was blissful. They end the night with a 5 minute neck and shoulder massage. How could you say no to wanting this every night? We all agreed we would be back. After massages it was almost 10pm, so we all headed back to our hotel ready to crash for the night. Amy T had a full day planned for us on Tuesday!

Our last morning in Bali was a brilliant and sunny day. My plan was to watch as much of the Dodger game as possible before Amy woke up. This was the BIG GAME 7, and it was hard to think about missing any of it until they at least had a comfortable lead. By the time Amy was up and ready to go, the Dodgers were ahead 2-1. She was fine with me bringing my audio ear buds and my cell phone so that I could listen on the way to breakfast. I only had one ear bud in on the walk to town so I could chat and listen.

The sky was so blue on this day it made the water even more blue. It was beautiful and none of this was lost on me, even as I listened to the game on the walk.

We made it back to our favorite breakfast spot. Hey, why stop a good thing now? This place had been killing it for us so far. Today I also ordered the colorful Dragon Bowl and was absolutely so delicious. I will never forget when Amy was ordering I was listening to the game and I could hear the announcer call the Puig’s home run that put the Dodgers on top for good. I was so thrilled when he hit that home run and was cheering from my seat, even as the waitress just looked at me as Amy was making her order.

I then started streaming the game and put my little phone up at the table. Amy was so great, she didn’t mind at all and was also enjoying watching the game. We got to the bottom of 8th inning through breakfast and were ready to make the 10-15 walk back to our room to start packing. On the walk back to the room, I walked faster than I have the whole trip as I wanted to see the final outs and watch the Dodgers clinch the National League Pennant. We made it, and I saw it, and I was so very thrilled.

While we were packing to leave, our absentee personal concierge called to tell us that she investigated what happened with our late pick-up to the St. Regis the evening before. The St. Regis wanted to apologize and offered to send a private luxury car to take us to the airport at 1:30pm. This sounded great to us as it would have cost us $35-$40 dollars. Our flight was at 4pm, and they recommended we get there at least 2 hours in advance.

When the St. Regis driver arrived, in the seat between us there were fresh cold waters, 2 boxes of Macaroons, and an apology note to Mr. and Mrs. Richardson. My first thought was seriously, hmm, this is a note for my parents. LOL! Okay, well, at least they were above and beyond trying to make it up to us.. It actually was very sweet of them to be so apologetic over a 25 minute wait. They more than made up for the experience and left me with a positive impression of both the St. Regis and the Laguna Resort where we stayed. It just goes to show you, mistakes happen, but how you handle them, can make all the difference in the experience the customer has.

We were at the airport by 2pm and quickly dropped our bags off and made it through the security line. So we had a good 90 minutes before we needed to board the plane. One of my credit cards gives me access to ‘premiere lounges’ around the world, so we went up to the more private lounge that offered food and 3 drinks each. Can’t even imagine downing 4 drinks in 90 minutes. If we had 3 drinks each they’d have to carry us onto the plane. Amy decided on water and I decided to have one last Bintang Beer for the road. Who knows, maybe beer is a new thing for me now.

The flight to Hong Kong was 5 hours. I watched a few movies and was more than ready to get off of the plane when we landed in Hong Kong. The guy on the end of our row never got up. So we basically felt ‘stuck’ the whole flight. Not that you couldn’t ask him to get up, it just feels all awkward when folks get ‘too’ situated and it is an ordeal for them to have to get up.

Are bags came off the luggage carousel very quickly and we headed over to the express train to the center of Hong Kong. It was all very easy to get to and access. Once we arrived at the center of Hong Kong, there was free shuttle service to all of the major hotels and ours was the second stop. It was all so efficient, organized, and easy to get to our hotel. And Hong Kong felt very safe, even at 10:30pm.

We arrived at the Renaissance, a Marriott hotel brand, that I stay at often in my work travels. The lobby totally smelled like all Renaissance lobby hotels. It was so weird once I smelled that scent, suddenly I felt like I was on a work trip. When we were checked in the lady behind the counter had a very thick accent. She asked me, as a platinum member, what I preferred as a welcome gift. She said, ‘Would you like 1,000 points or would you like some welcome sex?’ I stared at her for a second, my eyes got big. My mind was racing, surely she wasn’t saying what I thought I heard through her thick accent. Then it dawned on me, she was offering ‘welcome snacks’ not ‘welcome sex.’ Phew. Thank goodness!

Our room, though very small, had a stunning Harbour View on the 38th floor. We were laughing that our rooms were getting smaller and smaller. This room was really going to require a bit of a dance around each other. As in, if one of us was unpacking their suitcase and the other one needed to pass by, one of us needed to get on one of the beds.

We heard from our friends, Shelly and Amy T, they had arrived also and were now on the train into the City Center. Our dinner on the plane wasn’t great, so we headed down to the lobby around 11pm and split a burger for dinner. We didn’t want a lot, but needed a little something. After that we headed back up to the room and off to bed.

When we checked into the resort the day before, they set us up with their concierge to discuss all of the activities we could sign up for – everything from sailing to another island to breakfast with lions. Overwhelmed by the options and actually more drawn to things that were 2 hours away back in Ubud, we decided to go ‘old school’ and just relax at the resort all day again.

I was remembering the old days when getting to the resort that was by the ocean, had beautiful lounging chairs or cabanas, and lagoon pools to take a dip in – WAS the activity. You didn’t need to pile on further activities for your vacation and perhaps that is why you came back feeling less exhausted. My last 3 vacations, I have come home with a cold. It makes me wonder if yes, perhaps, I have been pushing things too much on vacation.

Both content with that plan, we had slept in this morning. And as has now become the routine, I blogged a little while watching the Dodger game before we headed out to our new favorite little breakfast spot in town. This time the Dodgers were on their way to a loss that would push the series to a stressful game 7. It seemed to unravel for them in the first inning and they were never able to recover. I was okay to shut it off halfway through and hope for a better result tomorrow.

The walk along the boardwalk seemed much easier today as we were walking much earlier in the day so it was cooler and we now knew the shortcut. The True Food Kitchen cafe was even more hopping today, but had plenty of seating for all. We tried new health ginger shots and I sampled an open faced omelette. It was all so delicious.

After breakfast we walked around the outdoor shopping area for a little bit. I decided I needed goggles as this was going to be my big swimming day in the Indian Ocean and the lagoon pools. I found some $6 Speedo goggles and we also purchased some ‘Frenchie’ flip-flops as our souvenir from Bali. They were only about $5 each and they came in fun colors. We had both been commenting earlier over the irony of our pre-trip shoe selections. Which ones to bring, which ones to leave home, keep it limited. Well, turns out, all we were wearing so far everyday all day were our flip-flops. Note to self, you only need flip-flops in Bali.

After we walked back to the resort, the rest of the day was spent in the cabana reading, blogging, swimming, napping. Pretty much a perfectly relaxing vacation day.

We decided on one dinner out while we were here and booked a nice table at an ocean front restaurant at the St. Regis. They said they would send a driver for us at 6:15pm so we could make our 6:30pm dinner reservation. We were in the lobby by 6:10pm…and waited, and waited, and waited, finally a driver showed up at 6:35pm. We were thinking, hmmm, this doesn’t seem like St. Regis service. I had been texting Farica, and she hadn’t been responding. Hmm, missing Selly again.

When the driver finally showed up he was super apologetic. And really all was forgotten once we stepped foot on the jaw dropping property. It was beautiful in every way and there was some kind of fire dance show going on when we arrived. We watched that for a bit and then walked through the property back towards the restaurant that was ocean front.

They sat us at a beautiful outdoor table. We were just getting settled in when, they sat down a family of 4 with wait for it…2 high chairs. The kids were super cute and looked well behaved. Actually looked like they just woke up from a nap. I felt myself stressing over at what point all hell would break loose and they would be melting down.

The perfectly handsome and attentive host from Amsterdam that had seated us and had continued to attend to our table came by and asked if there we anything we needed besides the waters so far. I said in my nicest voice ‘Well, I’m a little disappointed that we are right next to a table with 2 small children.’ He said, ‘Oh yes, of course, let me move you immediately.’ So he brought us to a table at the other end of the row of tables. It felt more tucked away, but at least I wasn’t going to have to stress over the children that were already starting to fuss. Children need to be children, and I will be the first to roll around with them in the ball pit at McDonald’s, just please don’t sit them down next to me in high chairs at a 5-star restaurant. Am I turning into a grouchy old lady? Who knows, maybe I am.

The rest of the dinner experience was delightful. We both ordered specialties and started with salads. Our host also recommended a wine to compliment my dish and it was my first good glass of wine in Indonesia. When he asked if I wanted a 2nd glass, I said yes please. In my defense, these were like 4 oz pours, not that I need defending. Ha, ha.

In the end, they asked if wanted dessert. So far, we had said no to all dessert as I am still trying to stay off of sugar. But on this night, we decided to look. Their homemade specialty ice cream was tempting both of us. What harm could one scoop do? Throwing caution to the wind, we ordered 1 scoop of Vanilla (Amy) and 1 scoop of Salted Carmel (Lisa). I also ordered a decaf cappucino to put a cap on the perfect dinner evening.

When they brought out the ice cream – a ‘scoop’ was generous in terms. It was more like a tablespoon of Ice Cream, which actually was perfect. We didn’t need much, just a taste. It also had a little crumble of something with it that gave it a little crunch. Every bite was savored. I love how when you don’t have dessert regularly, when you do, it seems like a treat beyond compare. It was OUTSTANDING, this ice cream. And my coffee, well, perfection.

After dinner we walked around the beautiful property a little more before asking for a driver back to our hotel. It was a beautiful and restful  day.

Our big plan for this day was to rest in a cabana we had rented all day that faced the beach. We slept in and then headed down to the free on-site breakfast. When we checked in, they had asked, ‘Do you want points as your welcome gift, or a free on-site breakfast?’ We picked free on-site breakfast, cautiously optimistic as usually hotel on-site breakfasts have limited selections.

When we got down there, they first sat us at a table that was right by the reflection of a pool. That was too bright for Amy so we moved in a little, still outside under covering, but away from the glare of the pool. No sooner had they sat us at another table, they brought a family with a screaming child next to us. I just looked at Amy, this would be my non-starter for this location. Combined we were like Goldilocks trying to find the perfect spot. I asked if we could be moved inside, they graciously moved us inside.

The breakfast spread was extensive with different styles of breakfast, stations – Western (Eggs, Donuts and Pastries), Eastern (Soups), Middle-Eastern (Steamed veggies, sauce, and rice) and a fruit station for everybody. About zero of it looked appetizing to me. They brought my cappucino, this would be the true test. I can really get by with just one good coffee or cappucino in the morning, forget the food. I bring the cup to my mouth for my first sip. Ugh. Even the milk in the cappucino couldn’t mask the ‘instant’ taste of the coffee inside. Amy brought back a bowl of steamed veggies in sauce and fruit. God Bless her, she can eat a veggie breakfast, not me. She said she had eaten that every morning for breakfast in India and was used to it. I went and had an omelette made for me, and picked up some bacon and fruit. The omelette was good, the bacon was way over cooked, I couldn’t finish it. I was missing the perfect crispness of the Mandapa bacon. We decided we would need to find another breakfast option on the remaining days here. We were in Bali afterall, and we wanted a more Bali experience and less hotel buffet experience.

After breakfast we went back to the room, I blogged a little (no game on today) and then we started to get ready to go down to our cabana for the day. Why does getting ready to go down to the beach for the day always feel like an ordeal for white girls? After you ‘suit up’ there is process of making sure you get sunblock over every square inch of your lily white body so you don’t burn. Then the process of selecting everything you want to take for the day as you camp out in your cabana. What books? What snacks? How much extra water? Do I bring my iPad? This is about as stressful as it gets on a beach cabana day I guess.

We both loaded up our backpacks and headed down. By now it was 12:30pm. On the way down there, Amy announces, ‘I’m hungry.’ I’m thinking, no wonder, all you ate was vegetables. Then I reflected, ‘Am I hungry?’ Actually, I was. So we made the decision to walk into this shopping district that we could access off of the boardwalk a few resorts down. I had found what looked to be a great ‘healthy eats/good coffee’ place online, and we both had wanted to try it out.

The walk down the boardwalk in direct sunlight with our beach daypacks on our back felt SO LONG. The temps were in the mid-80’s with very high humidity. How high? Let’s just say, my hair is about as curly as it gets absorbing every ounce of moisture in the air. I look like I have a perm at times.  As we walked along the resorts, we enjoyed the view of the sandy white beaches and clear blue water. The resorts looked mostly empty. It seems surreal to see such a strip of resorts ocean front with such little activity. Their high season is in the summer, so they said this is typical.

We finally made it to the shopping center and they checked all of our bags and we went through a metal detector. There were bomb threats in Bali 10 years ago, so they are very high security in these beach areas and with the resorts. Whenever you pull into a resort, they open the back door and check the rear of the van.

We made it to the True Food Kitchen of Bali. It had lovely ‘Anthropolgie’ feeling decor and open breeze and the most beautiful and healthy menu selections. Even better, then served up a wonderful cappucino. This is what I had been craving since we left Mandapa.

We enjoyed the lunch here so much and it was easily the busiest eating establishment in the shopping center. We could see this place fitting in perfectly in Orange County. After a leisurely lunch we headed back to the resort and found a short cut so that the walk wasn’t so long.

We then parked ourselves in our Cabana for the rest of the afternoon. Alternating between blogging (me), reading, napping, and taking dips in the Indian Ocean. It was glorious. The water was clear as crystal and as warm as bathwater. Absolutely no chill whatsoever.

We hung out like this until about 6pm (the sun sets around 6:15pm this time of year). It also rises over the water and sets behind us. We considered our dinner options as we headed back to the room. We could go out, dine on property, or just order room service. In the end, we felt tired from laying around all day. Imagine that? So we just decided to take showers, not have to get ready, and order room service.

We both picked transitional Balinese dishes from the room service menu and I said yes to Bintang Beer when they suggested we try the beer with our dinner. I wasn’t having much success with good wine in Bali, so figured maybe I should switch to beer.

About 30 minutes later our food arrived, they rolled it in on a cart and set up a table in the dining area of the suite – complete with a little rose in a vase. I had ordered a fish dish with some traditional side dishes and Amy had a Balinese chicken curry. It was outstanding. We loved our dinner so much and I enjoyed the taste of the beer that complimented the dinner. They were right with the beer suggestions.

Day one at the resort was a relaxing success and by now we had detoxed from Mandapa and were enjoying the resort for all of the amenities it offered. Also, the beds were super comfortable and they had big fluffy pillows. A must for a good nights sleep.

When I woke up on Thursday morning and turned on the game, it was already half over and the Dodgers were on their way to a win and moving ahead in the series 3-2. As Amy was still sleeping, it was a good morning for me to go down poolside watch the game and blog before breakfast.

Down by the pool it was a quiet and so peaceful and still. I blogged and watched the game while I waited for Amy to wake up and join me for breakfast. Once she came down, they seated at this beautiful couch with cushions and a view of the river.

We were mourning a little that this was our last experience here for breakfast. We were pretty sure no other hotel or resort would be able to compare in the healthy breakfast selections or with the level of service. But for now, we enjoyed the last few moments and I visited the breakfast bar and ordered several items off of the a la carte menu that were tiny portions but fun for a little taste.

After breakfast and one last walk around the rice fields, we headed back to our room to pack. We had a little bit of a late check-out at 1pm and it was almost noon.  As I packed, I wondered who was lucky enough to stay here next and again felt so grateful for the time at Mandapa in the pristine surroundings and this room.

I called Selly when we were ready and she arrived promptly. She had our final bill and we checked us out there in the room. Baggage attendants came and took our bags to the car that was waiting to take us to our next destination. Selly let me know that a Chinese family had rented 6 of these rooms and would be there next. Wow! I was trying to wrap my head around a family reunion at this resort and how nice that would be.

When we arrived at the top again. We asked for some time to step out back onto that deck with the vista that they had initially shown us. We took time to soak in the beautiful setting and take some photos before heading to the car outside.

Our driver was waiting with our bags and we asked if we could stop at the monkey forest on the way down to our next destination. He said no problem and that he would wait one hour for us while we went into the monkey forest.

When I got in the back of the car, I was sitting behind the driver. It was so hot and I could feel myself gagging as he had a pretty strong body odor going and it was going to be about a 2 hour drive to Nusa Dua (with the monkey forest about halfway in between). I wasn’t sure how long I could take it, so rolled down the window to at least get fresh air and tried not to think about it.

Our driver took us through central Ubud and the artist district. It is such a popular place and there were lots of people milling about the town, lots of traffic, lots of mopeds, lots of color – so bustling in every way. Our driver asked if we wanted to get out and walk around and we shook our heads, it felt too hot and humid outside and we were good just proceeding to the monkey forest.

The monkey forest was outrageous. It is an easily accessible forest park where the monkeys roam freely everywhere – even on people. We both kept saying as we walked around, please God, no, I don’t want a monkey hopping on me. Plenty of visitors were good with it, but it totally gave us the creeps to think about a little monkey climbing all over us.

Watching the monkey behaviors was hilarious and at the same time kind of intense. We saw a lot of them inspecting each other’s butts including sticking their hand up in there, mother monkeys nursing their babies, monkey family fights, monkey wrestling, monkey babies scurrying all around. If you liked monkeys, it was pretty much monkey heaven and they were very entertaining to watch. Also the park itself did feel like a jungle and it was shaded and cool to walk around. After about 30-40 minutes we were done and I think we wanted to leave then mostly because we wanted it to be before a monkey jumped on us.

Onward to Nusa Dua where we would be staying at the Laguna Luxury Resort on the beach. One of our friends had stayed here and highly recommended it.  When we pulled up, it very much had a Hawaii resort feel without the Hawaii music. They sat us down, offered us a welcome drink, and then someone came over to talk to us.

As a Platiunum guest, they said they had upgraded us to an executive suite, but if we wanted – and for $300 extra per night, they could upgrade us to a private villa with a private pool and they showed us pictures. We both said that wasn’t necessary and really we’d be fine with the executive suite. They also introduced us to Farica, who would be our personal concierge and she gave us her contact number. I sized her up. Could she hold a candle to our Selly?

They then took us to our room. It was a top floor suite that overlooked the lagoon pools and had a balcony. By any standards, it was a very nice room. However, after you have just left Mandapa, you feel like you need to detox a little. As soon as we were left alone in the room, we looked at each other as if to say, our Cinderella time is really over and now we are back to more familiar surroundings. We both feel we adjust well, and had no expectations for this new place or the setting to even come close. It is just hard to explain the shift we were feeling and a little bit of mourning to come away from Mandapa, and the pristine jungle setting. Yet, still, we were fine and this was a beautiful (even if a little dated – think late 90’s) resort and we just were happy to be here for R&R for the next few days before we hit Hong Kong next week. We knew once we got there it would be non-stop touring and site seeing.

After we unpacked, we went for dinner on the property, beach side. It was a beautiful table, there were paper lamps strung around everywhere, and there was live music – a pretty Asian woman singing Norah Jones hits. They brought us a welcome drink and we ordered dinner. I had sushi, Amy had salmon. Both dinners were pretty good and the servers were so sincere. I love the humility of the Indonesian people. Even so, we were missing the magic of the jungle setting of Mandapa and the amazing healthy food selections. We needed to snap out of it. How could we be slightly depressed at this amazing beach resort? Had we turned into Kardashians?

On this morning I woke up to a few emails from MLB.tv letting me know they had my IP address and would make an adjustment so that I could view the game. I was skeptical it would work, but sure enough I tapped the live feed button and there before my eyes was the Dodger game about to start. I was so excited. I feel like I had cracked a code.

Our plan for the day was another treetop restaurant breakfast, followed by a trip to the on-site gym, a 90-minute massage treatment and redo of our mani/pedi, and me trying to fit the Dodger game viewing in there somehow. I’m here to tell you, I made it work.

We went to breakfast first and were sat at a table that still had a view of the river but also was right in front of the vegetable/herb garden. It all felt so lush with greenery all around. We were so excited to enjoy this breakfast again. Me, I had been fasting breakfast since May – so now getting back into a breakfast routine wasn’t too difficult, it took me about 5 minutes to adjust. Now I was waking waking up every morning thinking, hmm, I need some breakfast!

We both visited the place where all of the food was displayed to make our selections. I can’t even bring myself to call it a buffet as it was all so artfully displayed. I appreciate how all of the food was covered with lovely little mesh baskets. No chance of even a gnat landing on this food. I tried a few new things on this day and even joined Amy in a wheatgrass shot. The little bottles were so cute. I couldn’t resist. They also had an incredible mango yogurt I thoroughly enjoyed.

So there we were enjoying the peaceful morning, river sounds, birds chirping, cicadas making their special jungle sound and oh HOW NICE, a couple at the table next to us deciding it was a great idea to FaceTime a relative the whole time they were eating breakfast. And you know how it is when you are on a cell phone or FaceTiming – you actually have to speak extra loud so that the person on the other end can hear you over the sound of the river. Say what? After about 20 minutes of this, we asked if we could be moved to another table far, far, far away from the FaceTiming couple. We sat at another table much further in the interior and then glanced over at another couple doing the SAME THING. Thankfully, that couple only lasted about 5 minutes. It sounded like a quick check-in with his dad. What is up with people feeling like they need to FaceTime at breakfast?

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All of the servers seemed dressed especially nice today with the ladies in lace tops and beautiful skirts. As we later found out, it was the day of a big Balinese ceremony. We were encouraged to go watch the procession after breakfast. It was beautiful to see the participants march through the rice fields and through the village in procession.

After the procession we went back to the room, I checked the score and it was tied 1-1. I just wanted to watch a few innings before the Spa Treatment. Amy was getting ready for the gym and I decided I would be skipping the gym and would meet her at the spa. She was cool with that as she was now used to me be obsessed with the Dodgers and this championship series and was being supportive of my viewing time.

Well, the Dodger game remained tied up until the 8th inning when it was time for me to go to the Spa. It was a nerve racking game so I thought, it is just as well. I might as well go get my 90-minute treatment and then find out who won later. So I headed off to the Spa for treatments.

This time they put us in our own private structure for changing with separate areas for the massages but combined areas for the feet soaking. They pre-wash and soak your feet also for the massage. They put salts and flowers in there and it feels like a great way to get started before you head back into the massage treatment room. They also have you smell different essential oils to calm your senses.

90-minutes of bliss later, I headed back to my changing area and decided to just ‘peak’ at my iPad to see who won the game. UNBELIEVABLY the game was still going. It was still tied in the 12th inning. So then I got excited to realize that while my girl was going to be redoing my manicure, I could sit against those cushions facing the river, sipping the ginger tea and eating cookies, while watching the Dodger game on my iPad using my earbuds. I was pretty much in heaven during this time. Especially when they actually won the game in the bottom of the 13th inning! That was totally amazing. The series was now tied at 2-2.

After our treatments, we were a little hungry so decided to grab a lite lunch by the poolside restaurant. Once again the food was delicious and the setting was pure heaven. It is so hard to describe how peaceful this property is and all of the spaces they have designed to encourage relaxation.

We both felt tired again, but actually needed to ‘get ready.’ My cousin, Amoris, who I haven’t seen in 6 or so years is in Bali for a month with her fiancé and is staying only 2 miles up the road. They were planning on coming by the resort at 5:30pm for a little cocktail hour with us. There is a place by the pool area called the ‘library’ that serves drinks and will actually tour you through the specialty drinks of all of the Islands of Indonesia. We all knew we were wouldn’t be doing all of the islands, but were each down for about 1, but no more than 2.

Amoris and her fiancé, Andy, arrived at 5:30pm and were escorted down from the entrance in a buggy to the library. We had told Selly they were coming and she was all prepared to receive them when they arrived. We spent about 2 hours with them getting caught up. It was so much fun to hear about their adventures in Bali so far, and their previous adventures in Tanzania (where they were before Bali). They will be heading back the USA in a few weeks, but have been able to stay here for a month renting a house for only about $400 and they get around on a scooter.

Around 7:30pm we finished up with drinks and they took the buggy back up to the entrance. Amy and I had a quick dinner in the tree top restaurant and headed to bed early. We were both very tired. It’s funny how the more you relax, the more tired you get. Or maybe it was the last several months catching up with us all at once. Regardless, it was nice to be able to walk back up to the room and crash early.

When I researched this place before this trip I was drawn to this description ‘An exclusive journey inside an indigenous Balinese village, providing a sensory journey to wellness and nature. An IDEAL destination for experience collectors.’ I thought ah, yes, that’s me, an experience collector. In the heat of a very demanding Spring at work – this seemed like the perfect escape in the Fall, so I booked the trip.

I woke up on this Tuesday morning thinking about…wait for it…the Dodgers! Ever since the Dodgers entered the playoffs last year and were showing up delivering exciting games, it sparked that 11-year-`old part of me that bled Dodger blue in the days when I was convinced I grow up and marry Steve Garvey. Fast forward 40 years, and unbelievably, I am equally obsessed with the Dodgers and any which way to view these championship games – even on vacation. I had jumped through all kinds of cable hoops before I left, subscribed to MLB.tv postseason, all in hopes of being able to live stream the games on vacation when I had time.

I knew it was going to start airing at 6:30am. So when my eyes opened at 6:15am, I quietly took out my iPad to see if I could make some Dodger streaming magic happen. We are 15 hours ahead of California and the game would be starting in 15 minutes. I looked over at Amy in her bed and she was still sleeping, so it felt like a good activity that I could do quietly as I plugged in my earphones and tried to get the live stream going. As I went to stream, the response from the server said that I was blocked in this part of the world. What? I had my VPN going to hide my location, how could they know. I emailed MLB.tv and waited for their response as I listened to the audio. While the audio isn’t the same – it would have to do until I got a response. The series was tied at 1-1, but it was the first game back at Dodger stadium, so I felt hopeful for my team. The more I listened though, the worse it got – they were on there way to a loss when Amy woke up and I was happy to get away from the game.

We went down to breakfast restaurant which was a trip back to the treehouse restaurant. To see it with a daytime view was spectacular. It felt so peaceful and they seated us again at a table with a view of the river. Once we were seated they greeted us by name and confirmed our dietary preferences. They had an a la carte menu and a breakfast buffet. All was inclusive of the cost of staying there. We took a deep breath and couldn’t stop smiling to realize again, this feeling of being here. I ordered a cappucino and told Amy that I would go check out the buffet.

Once I got up there, I knew this would be a buffet like NO other for Amy once she saw this. Amazing selections of healthy juices, yogurts, wheat grass shots, almond milk, cashew cheese – all kinds of every healthy thing you could imagine – all displayed artful fashion with little bottles for everything. You could also see a garden beside you as you sat for breakfast, so you just imagined all of this stuff came from the garden. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait for Amy to see this spread.

I had an omelette made for me, took some crispy bacon, added some fresh watermelon, grabbed a mango yogurt, and a fresh little granola bar as a start. The display was all so beautiful you didn’t want to miss out on a thing. We thoroughly enjoyed lounging at that breakfast, the views, the attention to detail in everything, and just sitting there hearing the river in the background.

We went back to the room to get unpacked. It had already been made up for us and looked amazing. They put anything on the counter in the bathroom on little white towels. Even our shoes in the walk-in closet they put on white towels. It is odd, how anything on a white towel actually DOES look more orderly. We took the rest of the morning to unpack, do a little quiet time reading and get ready to head down to the spa for the mani/pedis we had booked.

When it was time to head down to the spa, it is a beautiful walk through the village and rice patties and down to the river’s edge where the spa is located.

Once you enter you are greeted and they lead you back into this beautiful spa changing area and show you the lockers, private showers, bathrooms, sauna, steam room, ice fountain, and private pool. We both took showers and put our robes on and waited for them to come get us for our mani/pedis – having no idea what to expect, but trusting it would be amazing.

True to expectation, they lead us into a double treatment room where it was open air,  you could see the river and hear the jungle life. They had little couches on both sides of the terrace, with copper bowls waiting and ready for us to soak our feet. We both felt like extreme princesses by now and pinching ourselves. Is this happening?

We sat down and could see each other on the facing couches and smiled. After soaking our feet, they led us back into the room where you could still hear the river and they had us each lay down on a massage table for our mani/pedis. Yes, this would be a first – a laying down mani/pedi. I was absolute heaven and we each had two attendants who were doing the mani/pedis. They all had doctor masks on. At one point I looked over at Amy and laughed. It looked like we were both on operating tables with Drs of beauty attending to us. Again, I thought, am I dreaming? Is this heaven.

2 hours later, I was done, Amy’s took a little longer because she had some ‘gel nail’ they had to remove. When I was done, they brought be down into a terraced room at the rivers edge and served me hot ginger/turmeric/blah blah blah something else – but amazing tasting tea with little tiny cookies sweetened with honey. I just sat there enjoying the tranquility and not worried so much that the Dodgers actually did lose today and now were down 2-1 in the best of 7 series.

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Amy joined me 30 minutes later and I said, ‘Just wait.’ Just as it was out of my mouth another tea angel appeared with hot ginger tea for Amy and little cookies. Where are we?

We then talked about the amazing setting of our treatments, the pampering, and then also some of the hiccups of the treatment. For instance, my nails, looked a little sloppy – not that clean edge against the cuticle that you get back home. Also, when they were taking Amy’s gel nail off of her toes, one of the girls was a little too aggressive with the file and was actually accidentally filing a bit of her skin, so imagine how that felt when the acetone to take the polish off hit her skin. Not so good. I looked down at her toes, they looked red…poor thing. We both decided that the mani/pedi ladies back home are the real ‘pros’ and perhaps need to come do some training here. But still – all in all – we would do it all again as it was a 95% blissful experience.

As this resort hits the bullseye on every detail, we wanted to share a little so they would know this is an area of improvement. The spa director came out to talk to us. We were super nice about it – it was more of an ‘fyi, perhaps this is an area of improvement.’ She was so sorry to hear this news and looked at my nails and Amy’s toes. She insisted on making it up to us. She asked if we had anymore treatments booked at the spa. We said we had 60 minute massages on Wednesday. She said what she would like to propose is that today’s treatment would be 50% off and that we should come back tomorrow and they would redo my nails and Amy’s pedi (her painting was also ‘rough’). Also, she would be upgrading our 60 minute treatments to 90 minutes for free. Wow, that was above and beyond to make it right. The true Ritz expereince that you can always count on. We said – this isn’t necessary, we just wanted you to know because we know how committed you are to excellence. She insisted, so we said – thank you, that would be amazing.

After our treatments we decided to hang out at the infinity pool. As soon as we sat in chairs near and umbrella, and attendant greeted us by name and brought us coconuts to drink out of and a basket of fresh fruit and cold waters. Amy and I just looked at each other again, stunned.

We swam around in the pool for about 30 minutes, it was so fun – like a jungle feeling but no chance of weird jungle insects getting to you. Just pristine beauty and tranquility. Until…the kids showed up. An Australian couple with two girls around 6 and 7 showed up and I knew that would be the end of the tranquility. We want girls to be girls at that age, and they were well behaved, but still – girls do scream and scream and have fun. So after a little reading by the pool, we were ready to head upstairs and start to get ready for dinner.

We had a 6:30pm reservation at their onsite 2-Michelin star rated restaurant Kubu. A month in advance they had let me know it is in high demand and if we wanted a pod by the river for dinner, we should book it now. By the time I got back to them 2 weeks later, all of the early seatings were booked and we would have to wait until 9:30pm for a dinner in a pod. We both decided that would be too late and we would be fine in the normal restaurant, we were thinking, geez, we don’t need a private pod for dinner, we’ll be fine and happy to eat at an earlier time.

We we arrived at the restaurant, we fully expected to be seated at a table in the restaurant. When the hostess kept walking us towards a pod, we were very suprised to be seated there. We hadn’t expected this. Our little butler, Selly, soon showed up and said she wanted to make sure this experience happened for us so she pulled some strings. Wow!

The dining experience and the food itself was absolutely unforgettable. In addition to what we ordered for our dishes, they kept bringing out little chef tastings in between each course. We would roll our eyes back as we tasted the delicacies. When Amy’s main course came of roasted lamb, she couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful each bite was – and it was the best she had ever tasted. I had steak topped with foi gras and agreed my was also phenomenal. The only thing that isn’t great here in Indonesia is the wine or the wine selection. They have so much else going for them, I’m okay to pass on the wine and enjoy the local drink selections if I want something fun with dinner.

When dinner was done, the chef came by and talked very enthusiastically about each dish as we asked him questions. It was so fun to engage with a chef so passionate about his art. He is truly talented and we can see why the restaurant is Michelin rated.

When dinner was done, they called us a ‘buggy’ to take us back to our apartment. We were both ready to go to bed. Selly asked us about any offsite activities we wanted to do, we looked at each other and shook our heads. No, we were sure we didn’t want to leave this oasis for 3 days or ever.

Back in the room the turn-down service had occurred and I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if our butler, Selly, popped around the corner and helped us get ready for bed – that is HOW attended to you feel at this place. I’m glad she wasn’t there, as I’m still able to do these things for myself for now, just one day in at Mandapa. LOL.