Month: January 2018

I know I promised one last blog, once we got home and settled in, but the busy-ness of things, got the better of me.  I’ll have to work on that.  But for now, let’s just put a fork in this one.

The flights home were uneventful, with the exception of the best First Class Service we’ve had on any flight.  ANA did a fantastic job, we were treated like Royalty and I can honestly say that I wish the flight was longer.

We’re missing Rudy already and can’t wait for him to find some time to come home for a few weeks.  Maddie is back in NYC, knee deep in her dream job and the Doodles have been transformed into such great little ladies.  All without loosing that beautiful spirit they possess.  I was really worried about them losing their mischievous little ways.  That puppy wonder and cuteness.  But nope.  They still get into trouble.  Only now,  they’re much more well behaved when they do it.  That’s all I wanted.

No big plans on the books yet for 2018.  Just a couple little RV camping trips.  I’ll drop a note here and there, as feel inspired.  So check back for updates whenever the mood strikes you.  Until then, smile at a stranger.

T&L

“Hurry up and get in before she comes back.  Let’s go! Let’s go!”  Laura said as she whisked us into the taxi while the morning rain gently fell upon us.  The hotel reception agent had barely turned to walk away, telling us to stay there until she returned, when Laura saw her opportunity and pounced.  Like a lioness to her cub,  Laura was certain to protect her wallet and there was no way that those little Sheraton execs where going to suckle any longer.  Bonnie and Clyde rolled over in their graves this morning.  A new bad girl had been born and her name is Laura Geist.

Well, thats how it played out in my head.  We checked out a day early from the Sheraton, to head down closer to Rudy and the airport for our last night, at the Hilton.  This morning we settled up our bill, rooms service, bar tabs, etc. and headed to our awaiting taxi.  Just when the gal started running out to catch us.  Muttering something about 1 more night and our non-refundable reservation.  Bottom line was they wanted us to pay for the last night, that we were not using, at a price of about $350.  Yeah, right.  Are there extradition laws between Japan and the US?

A couple of nights ago, we took Rudy out for a nice dinner at a local steakhouse.  I’ve always wanted to try authentic Japanese Black Wagyu beef, grade A5.  At home, it’s very easy to get the Australian knock-off Kobe beef, but if you want the real deal, it will cost you about $100 per pound.  Well, $400 later and the three of us sat in 1000% complete satisfaction of the beef we had just consumed.  Each of us declared it was the best we’ve ever had.  It was pure silk on the tongue.  We’ve already found where to order it (back home), so if you bring the fine wine, I’ll treat you to something close to perfection.

So it’s our last night on the road.  Tomorrow we’ll wake up, Rudy will meet us for b-fast and drop us at the airport.  He’s got 1 more year here at Kadena and if anyone needs a little vacation, I know that he would love the visit.  It’s a very pretty island with plenty of things to do and see.  The summers do get sticky but the mild winters (think San Diego), can be a little cloudy.  So pick your favorite weather and dress accordingly.  I’ll hook ya’ll up with another post before we shut this down for a while, so check back soon.  Same Bat Time, same Bat Station.

For him

For Her

(found something to fill that “void” area in our living room 😎)

Ladies and Gentleman……. Mr. Rudy Geist

And now, sans Maddie.

Hanging out with Rudy and his homies, at their favorite local bar, The Last Chance.

This was a fun night.  We started off with a very late lunch at Chili’s (when in Rome right?), then the latest Star Wars movie before a few drinks with America’s finest Airmen.  And I’ve got to say, this bar was just right.  Good vibe, very chill, great music and people.

So, funny side story.  Laura and I set up camp at the end of the bar, ordered a couple drinks and tried not to be the “old people” as we watched Rudy and his friends.  Before too long (and 1 by 1), the “kids” started to come by, say hello and otherwise pay their respects to the OG.  The manager was playing Russian Roulette with the music and after nobody there could name the songs, they turned to me.  Of course I could name every song they were playing, within seconds, so evolution took over.  Betting 😏

Now, I’m not much of a gambler (🤑🤑🤑).  OK, whatever.  So I gamble.  Anyway, it became a night of “Name that song”.  Let me bottom-line this for you.  These kids make $450 per week.  PER WEEK!  And I don’t.  So after they racked up a couple of rounds of debt (since I know almost every respectable song for the last 2 generations), they cried Uncle and I absolved them of their sins.  Drinks are always on me.  Y Not?

A great night sleep later and we’re off to the famous Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.  This is a very large, very busy and very awesome aquarium.

Just a couple extra random shots of nothing.  Including Laura getting some of that Lawson egg salad sandi and some Red Chix Nuggies 😻

Okinawa.  Home of Mr. Miyagi, Anthony Bourdain’s favorite egg salad sandwich and of course, Rudy Geist.  Even Meatloaf would agree, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad (R.I.P. Pat Morita).

Rudy’s work hours are a little difficult right now.  He has to work from 5am to 5pm, 4 days a week.  Since we arrived on Wednesday, we’ve only been able to spend a couple of hours with him.  But he just got off work for the weekend and is here in the hotel room with us for the next couple days.  So excuse me for the lack of Rudy in the pix below.  We’ll try to capture the Yeti on film this weekend, for your viewing pleasure.

Until then, the girls and I have been eating and shopping our way through town (no surprise there).  The town doesn’t have a lot of items we need or have never-seen-before or must-haves.  So it’s just a lot of random walking around, trying to get-in our 10,000 steps.  But they do have their own version of Home Depot, so we decided to get Rudy and his room organized.  (Yes he still lives like a teenager).  You’d be surprised what $100 worth of storage solutions and Febreze looks like.  It’s more than could fit in his car, almost.

Tomorrow, we’ll see Maddie off, as she’s headed back to NYC.  The fashion world is calling and her 200+ emails can’t wait any longer.  She’s got a lot of prep work to do before heading to Paris for Fashion Week.  We’re tremendously proud of both her and Rudy.  Having found careers at their age, is all we could ever ask for.  That and good health.  Life isn’t perfect, nor should it be.  But having two kids on the right path is close enough for us.

Oh, I found some Stone DIPA to drink while I write this 🤪.  Lucky me.

And my favorite Miyagism:

So I’m watching a Morgan Freeman movie last night (yeah we’ve got blazing fast wifi and Netflix 😜) and I started thinking about how you “read” people’s voices.  For example, if I’m reading something that Morgan Freeman is saying, my mind “reads” it in his voice.  Try it, you’ll see.    Which got me to thinking, when you read these blogs, do you read them in my voice, or your own?  Hey, did you know that Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers of any city on the world?  Although my cranium contains a vast array of useless facts, I must give credit to Uber for that little tidbit.

New Year’s Eve was pretty insane.  The crowds of people out that night, were the largest I’ve seen/been in.  We started the evening thinking we would just wander our way around a 1 mile radius of our hotel.  Find a bar, maybe some dinner, and keep things on the down-low.  At least that’s how it started.  Eventually, we found ourselves down on the harbour, with a million other people.  I’m not exaggerating.  The NYE celebration in HK is one of the largest in the world and it was nuts-to-butts down there.  By 10:30pm, it was so choked, we decided to start back towards our hotel.  By about 11:30, we found a bar, a couple of barstools and some cocktails.  Across the street was another bar with a 70” tv, broadcasting the festivities and fireworks.  We got to see and hear it all, from the comfort of a scotch glass 🥃.  Happy New Year!

The city itself (and the Kowloon side), are way too big to been seen in the 3 days we had.  So we stuck with what we know best, food and shopping.  There are more choices than we could decide on and every choice we made was a good one.  Which only leads me to believe that there aren’t very many bad choices in HK.  But our favorite was a rocking little shop in Soho that Maddie found, called Little Bao.  If you read back to my blog about Hudson’s Burgers in Coeur d’Alene, or if you have been to Huddies, you’ll understand when I tell you, this place is the Huddies of the East.  Tiny, packed, line around the corner, fast, cheap, delicious eats, hip vibe and a downright awesome experience.

Their signature dish is the pork belly burger, served on a grilled steam bun, with a fresh slaw topping.  I’d bore you with the foodie details, but let’s just say DAMN!  Their truffle fries with shiitake mushrooms was off the hook too.  Oh, and the little caramel dessert ice cream sandi.  Oh and Laura’s fried chicken burger.  I think you get the point.  We all agreed that this was our favorite meal (thus far) on the entire trip.

I read that of the 6+ million residents of the greater HK area, about 200,000 or so are Westerners.  We had encountered so many, that I think that number is too low.  It seems everywhere we turned, there were Euro and American business-persons and families, living here.  And there is also a great dog population.  Up until this point, we had not seen any domestic animals, but the peeps here love their fidos.  For companionship. (I know what you were thinking).

• Hope you like steps and walking.  The streets of HK are nothing but hills.  Great for exercise, not so great for heels.
• Taxi’s, cars and buses won’t wait for you to move.  Cross the road quickly and with great caution.
• Some Uber cars we saw included Tesla’s, Porchse and Maserati.
• English is widely spoken and on almost all of the signs and menus you’ll read.
• There is no tipping, but all of your restaurants and bars will add a 10% service charge.
• The city feels and lives, much smaller than it looks.
• This is another “come back” city for us, so if you’re ever in the mood to get outside of your comfort zone, give us a call.  We’d love to join ya.