Ni-hon for the holidays

We went to the states recently to see our families and wish them well for the holidays. It was a bit premature, but I have to work on Christmas day and the subsequent days so we did our "thang" early. It was strange being back in the states but comforting at the same time. Driving was still the biggest scare, but what we were really unprepared for was the bitter cold that faced us in Kansas City. Wow, we hadn't experienced weather like that in a while. Disappointingly we saw little snow, which was the one thing we wanted to see while home. The most fun of the trip to Kansas City was surprising Jennifer's parents. The discussion about how to best execute the plan was funny. At Joe's house on the day of the "arrival" we spent the afternoon coming up with the best strategy as how to reveal ourselves when Joe suggested we not reveal ourselves rather manifest ourselves. We ran drills and had it all planned an realized everything up with which we had come was a little weird, so we simply answered the door when mom and dad arrived. Of course dad knew, but at least he acted surprised. We had lots of nice dinners, conversation and old family reminiscing about KC. It was great to see Stephanie and Mark who both looked well despite Mark's allergy attacks and demanding job. Joe was a fantastic host with the aide of Allison whom we all met for the first time. It must have been overwhelming for her, something out of a cheesy holiday movie, but Allison was awesome.

After a short three days we whisked off to see my parents, sister, brother and nephews. The trip was again, too short, but great to see family. We visited with my dearest friends the Caminis' and had a wonerful dinner. One of the highlights was seeing my childhood friend Tom Prevas. It was unexpected and a real treat. The Caminis dinner did not disappoint as usual. My sister made us dinner several nights as well and getting some good ol' American home cooked meals was wonderful. We got the boys Guitar Hero for Christmas and it was awesome watching them play. They are getting so big.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and あけましておめでとうございます (akemashite omedetou gozaimasu) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hong Kong

We went to Hong Kong for our Anniversary back in October. It was amazing! Great food, dim sum (we ate duck tongue!) There is still a lot of British influence, despite the city now belonging to the PRC. Everyone spoke English, so it was very easy for us to get by. It was without a doubt, the most international city I have ever visited. We had a running game of "guess the nationality", trying to guess where the other people in the restaurants and sites where from. Lots of Europeans, Australians and people from other Asian countries-not very many Americans.

Go to Hong Kong! Really!

Here are a bunch of photos from the trip.

Old Colonial Building-Now Hong Kong Parliament

Crazy long cable car ride up a beautiful mountain to the Po Lin Buddhist Monastery

The largest Buddha statue in the world. David feeling the zen under a replica of Sidartha's bohdi tree.

We're a long way from home! We comforted ourselves with a vegetarian lunch served in the monastery cafeteria. Supposedly this is what the monks eat. It was actually really good food. We could hear the monks chanting in the temple across the square, but it is requested that they not be photographed.

A day at the open air markets

City view from the very aptly named bar, Deck n' Beer.

Finally! A glimpse of a junk boat from our hotel window. Dave in front of the colonial train terminal, the last stop on the Orient Express. Hilarious!

A Mercedes truck delivering Coca Cola to McDonalds. Evidence that Capitalism is alive and well in Hong Kong.