For my trip to Singapore in 2011, I used AA AAdvantage miles to redeem a Business Class ticket to Singapore on Cathay Pacific. This itinerary had me transiting through Hong Kong twice - the first one was an early morning 5am through 10am transit and the second was an evening 5pm through 11pm layover. First Transit - July 12th, 2011 I arrived into a very quiet Hong Kong airport at 5am after a 16-hour flight from JFK. After clearing immigration, I waited for the first train into the city departing 6am. The train ride into central took about 20mins and I wandered into a city that was barely awake. I've always been a fan of HK's skyline, so I headed out on the covered walkway towards the star Ferry terminal. The Star Ferry was operating, and ... read more

What did I know about Cali? Not much apart from its reputation for drug-related violence. So, when we were invited to Cali for Jeff's former coworker's wedding, we scratched our heads a little, and thought why not, and then booked a short weekend trip thinking: (a) there isn't much to see/do; and (b) it probably wasn't safe anyway. And so this is how I touched foot on my fifth continent. In 2011, I was splitting my time between my homes in the Washington DC Metro Area and Honolulu, and so I booked a ticket for Honolulu-Washington-Cali-Honolulu. Interestingly, two sectors (Cali-Miami and Miami-LAX) were booked in Business and First Class respectively even though I paid an economy class fare. Leaving my Washington home on a pleasant Good Friday morning, we first took a flight to Miami where ... read more

This post documents our two-day side trip during our week long trip to Tokyo in the summer of 2010. Part 1 of this series describes the highlights of our sojourn in Tokyo while Part 2 describes our climb of Mt Fuji. Prior to our arrival in Japan, I had booked a room at the excellent Moto-Hakone Guest House, and I also bought the Hakone Free Pass for JPY5500 on arrival at Narita. Both turned out to the excellent purchases; the guest house was friendly, homely and great value for money, and the Pass allowed unlimited rides within the Hakone area plus one return trip between Shinjuku and the Hakone area. Leaving Shinjuku around noon on Thursday, we took the local train to the town of Odawara. From there, we took a ... read more

In the summer of 2010, we took the opportunity to make our first international trip together while our foster son was at camp. This trip was also an early 10th anniversary celebration for us. This is the first of a three part series on our week long trip to the Tokyo area in the summer of 2010. During the week, we took two trips outside Tokyo: One to climb Mount Fuji (described in Part 2) and one to Hakone (Part 3). Instead of telling our story in chronological order, this entry - and the photos - are organized by theme. Cultural Highlight 1: Ghibli Museum There was one sightseeing item we were 100% in agreement with: The Ghibli Museum showcasing the work of acclaimed anime director's Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli. Before we left for Tokyo,... read more