Shanghai

Em, Jack, Nick, Linda, Mom, Dad

The morning after the wedding, we hopped a flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai, China. After settling in to our hotel, we went for a walk on the town. We knew that Uncle Jack, Aunt Linda, and cousin Nick were also visiting Shanghai at this time, but we didn't have the foresight to plan a meeting spot. Since we had new SIM cards in our cell phones (and hence new, temporary numbers), we had no way to get in contact. Facebook is banned in China, so we couldn't use that either. Well, as luck would have it, as we were walking around the city of 22 million people, we happened to run into them on the street!! So we joined forces and went to grab some lunch together.

with streets this crowded, it is a wonder that we even found each other!

fresh made dumplings to order....yum!

Em is enjoying a xialongbao. Shanghai is famous for these....they are dumplings so juicy that you drink the juice with a straw before biting into it.

There are lots of great places to view both the old and the new (on horizon) architecture of Shanghai.

the buildings are so intricate and ornate, that even a pedestrian stroll is anything but
(sometimes these puns just land in my lap...sorry guys)

another great view of old vs. new
(wow, now I am rhyming...hah!)

enjoying a fresh sesame bun for dessert

Here are some random shots of cool buildings:

the financial district of Shanghai as viewed from across the Huangpu River

At night, the neon signs emerge and the city grows even more lively with millions of people out shopping and dining.

The buildings of the financial district take on their own personalities at night....each one changes color and some turn into giant video screen billboards. This place makes NY Times square look like an amateur. Note the color changes in the following pics:

On the other side of the Huangpu River lies The Bund, with the noticeably different, but equally beautiful Art Deco style:

The next morning, we visited the Shanghai Museum. It's exterior is fashioned after a ding (an ancient bronze cooking pot).

even the stairways inside the museum were spectacular

I had to include this pic for Dad (Ulrich) - these are bronze Chinese drums

At roughly a day and a half, our stay in Shanghai was brief. However, we had many more cities to see and only a week left in the trip....so onwards and upwards!!

(more blogs to come, next destination: Wuxi)

Hong Kong, the food

One of our favorite parts of this trip was the food. Here are some highlights:

whole roasted suckling pig -crispy skin with tender meat

whole steamed fish

crispy chicken

shrimp so big it requires it's own plate!!

hot pot

the street vendors always had something good to eat

....and never forget fresh fruit for desert

Hong Kong, the wedding

So the real reason for the trip to Hong Kong was to attend the wedding of Emily's brother Jon to Stacy. We had a great time at the wedding, and the food was amazing!

Since we are part of the immediate family, we got to sit at the head table. Nice. :)

12 course dinner!!

Jon and Stacy during the traditional Tea Ceremony, where the family gives gifts to the new couple and shares a cup of tea with them. We were honored to be included in the Tea Ceremony.

cutting the cake

Tea Ceremony with parents

Stacy and Jon
(it is customary for the bride to change into several different dresses throughout the evening)

The happy newlyweds. Congrats Jon and Stacy!!

Hong Kong

When we first heard the news that Emily's brother, Jon, was getting married to his high school sweetheart Stacy, we were very happy for them. When we heard that they were going to have a ceremony in Hong Kong, we were very happy for them.....and happy for us. :) What better excuse to travel abroad? Emily and I had been discussing the idea of a trip to Asia for several years; now we finally had a reason. We have always wanted to visit China, so we decided to make that part of the trip as well. Luckily, Emily's parents also wanted to do a similar trip and her Mom found an amazing deal for a China tour. So on March 23, we got up at 2AM to catch an early morning flight, by way of Vancouver Canada, to Hong Kong to embark on an 11 day tour of Hong Kong and China. This is the start of our journey...

Mom, Em, Dad, Jon, and Stacy in Hong Kong

incense burning at a Buddhist temple

the sculptures in the background with the red ribbon signify the tying of bonds during marriage

Stacy's aunts, sisters, and Emily try their hand at good fortune: by repeatedly shaking the canister, a randomly numbered stick is bound to jostle loose and fall to the ground. This stick contains a key to your fortune.

near the Buddhist temple, there is a fountain full of turtles...and you know how we are fond of turtles after our engagement story :)

Later we walked around downtown and took a cable car trolley to the top of a mountain to gain a view of the expansive collection of skyscrapers that constitutes the financial district. Hong Kong is the most densely populated area in the world; after visiting, you will not be able to contest this claim.

I took hundreds of pics of the buildings....I'll spare you most of them. The Bank of China building is my favorite both during the day and at night. It's triangular patterns are easy to recognize in the night pics below. During the light show (see video below), it constantly changed patterns to provide a geometric treat.

I could only capture about a third of the skyline from atop the mountain...it was a little too hazy and I would need a wide angle lens to get all of it in one frame.

With plenty of ongoing new construction, I am sure the skyline will look different the next time we visit!

part of the skyline at night

another part of the skyline at night with Mom and Dad
(note my fav Bank of China building just over Mom's right shoulder)

more buildings at night

Walking around downtown at night, there is an endless sea of people out late shopping and eating at restaurants on the street. At times, it was shoulder to shoulder and people would walk in the streets because the sidewalks were full. This city has more energy than any other.

I was thoroughly impressed with the selection at the shoe stores....this is a pic of just the Adidas section! Each store had literally thousands of different shoes.

On the day of the wedding, we decided to squeeze in a ferry ride to nearby Cheung Chau island. It is a very small island inhabited by fishermen, so, naturally, it has some of the best seafood restaurants. We grabbed lunch, walked around a bit, and then jumped back on the ferry to make it back in time for the wedding.

dried fish in a street market

walking down the alleys, we saw old ladies drying shrimp in homemade screens

The wedding was wonderful....which will be the subject of my next blog entry. :)

Mt. Bachelor Snowboarding Trip

During Valentine's weekend, we took a short roadtrip (~3.5 hrs drive) to Bend, Oregon to spend 3 days snowboarding on Mt Bachelor. We went with Paul and Tori Endres as well as the Kerns. The mountain proved to be much bigger and better than Mt Hood, so we will definitely be making this trip many more times in the future! Bend is also a cool little town that warrants more discovery than our brief foray of the local cuisine and brew.

The "Three Sisters" mountains, as viewed from atop Mt. Bachelor. Mt. Bachelor earned its moniker for being the lone mountain apart from the Three Sisters. That's me downhill, although my white pants and brown jacket act as camouflage in this pic (I just happened to be standing perfectly at the snow/tree horizon).

Matt and Kristina Kern bundled to battle the high winds

Yours truly and my Valentine...I couldn't think of a better way to spend Valentine's Day!!

Before hitting the slopes, we had Valentine's breakfast at the Sunriver Lodge....this is the view from our window seat.

This is the view of Mt. Bachelor from our room at Sunriver Resort

The first hour of the drive back home was a pleasant ride through the Deschutes National Forest
(that is the side slope of Mt. Jefferson on the horizon)

Halfway home, we drove by Detroit Lake; it is worth stopping several times on the side of the road just to soak in the views! I saw some campsites nearby, so we'll have to return to see what it looks like in the summer.

Detroit Dam

We walked about halfway out across the dam, which allowed me the perfect vantage to snap this photo:

Just a few hundred yards past Detroit Dam lies a mountain with lots of tiny waterfalls streaming down every side...only a few are visible at a time, but as you drive around to different angles, more and more appear. The small clearing in the trees only allowed me to capture a few of the waterfalls:

We finished the trip by stopping by the Outlet Malls (Emily's request, of course) on the way home. When I started to protest, she kindly reminded me that she withstood subfreezing temperatures and 94 mph winds to go snowboarding with me. Okay, fair point. I guess I sometimes take for granted how awesome of a wife she is and how she puts up with my crazy ideals of what constitutes the ultimate way to spend Valentine's Day. So we went to the Outlet Mall for Em....and I still owe her a nice formal dinner. But it may have to take a raincheck, Mt Hood is getting tons of fresh powder this weekend! :)