Hello from Manila

We arrived safely in WARM Manila, Philippines last evening – country 4 of 5. Good-bye sweaters and HELLO shorts and bathing suits!

We are on day 13 with 13 more to go. We’ve traveled from Korea to China to Japan and now to the Philippines. We have enjoyed awesome views from the 18th, 22nd, 33rd and now the 19th floors at various hotels and we've logged lots of miles in cities streets and on the gym equipment in each hotel. Packing smartly and traveling first / business class (with access to the private lounges) has made our transitions from country to country very easy… Thank God! While all the other hotels we’ve stayed at on this trip has been nice, the Makati Shangri La is probably one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed. Our room is spacious and has every creature comfort of home including a COMFORTABLE mattress (I swear we slept on the box spring at 2 hotels!). I just spent a few hours at the gym/spa and I felt like I was in heaven. It makes our spa set up at home look shameful and pretty darn cheesy! Should we ever build a house, this is the set up I’d want!

We've picked up on subtleties about the Asian cultures we've encountered… From our perspective, the consistent elements are their respect for mankind (ALWAYS nice and gracious to us) and their precision and efficiency in accomplishing ANYTHING they set out to achieve -- from serving a meal to setting up the city's infrastructure to programming software -- the attention to detail is always at the same level! Unlike us quirky Americans with attitude!

During this trip, we have learned that our love of and need for coffee is not necessarily appreciated by nor expected in this region. Our access has been severely restricted in each country which led us to the Starbucks each day while in Tokyo – not matter the cost! Maybe we are addicted… Most Starbucks do not even offer the "venti" size -- their large is our medium – but it comes with the same price… We have already spotted “signs” of Starbucks here in Manila. Yay!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tokyo. Tokyo’s metro system is quite elaborate and equates to 5 to 6 times the size of the Washington, DC metro system. Also, a big part of Tokyo’s efficiency is the fact that a lot of the city’s infrastructure is underground – the metro system, roadways and railways… Walking the streets of Tokyo is not very different from being in any major city in the U.S. – offering most of the same store/food chains we are accustomed to visiting at home. Although, it does take some of the fun out of visiting these new cities when they mirror what we have back in the states. That being sad it has come as a comfort, since Chris is still "gun shy" about trying new food, the chains have come in handy in keeping us both healthy! A few pics attached include the Tokyo Tower, a temple, the metro sys, and us enjoying a meal/beer at TGIF.

So far, Manila seems like a third world country – verdict still pending... While it has some of the commercialization as the other countries we’ve visited, from our first perspective, it is very dirty, poor, and unsafe. When we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by guards searching our car for bombs before we were allowed to enter the hotel “compound.” Then we and our bags were “checked out” by bomb sniffing dogs before we were able to enter the hotel. I’m sure these are precautionary actions to make us feel safe… It is having the opposite affect on me…

Greetings from Tokyo, Japan

Last evening we arrived safely in Tokyo...the view from our hotel room this morning -- amazing, HUGE city.

Hong Kong was a fabulous city and one we'd visit again... Saturday, we enjoyed Kowloon's (the major city on the mainland side of Hong Kong) sites and markets. Despite the huge population in Hong Kong, the city's infrastructure makes it very easy to maneuver around effortlessly -- double decker buses, lots of taxis, wide hallways and sidewalks, etc. to accommodate the flow. Nonetheless, we still had to get used to the "Chinese shuffle" when you are basically pushed about in a crowd when on the streets, etc.... We had to call it an early evening since we both where "over stimulated" from all the physical contact with the locals...:-) Some of the pictures attached are from our visit to the Peak -- offering one of the best views of Hong Kong. It is accessed via a tram, built in the 1800s, that scales the mountainside at up to 27% vertical angles with stops along the way -- the trip up the mountain was kinda scary, but the view was worth it!
Hong Kong is a city of lights and signs to lure in customers, but we found that it can be challenging to figure out EXACTLY where the signs lead... It often took us several tries to find our destination and sometimes it wasn't even on the block where the original sign was or was pointing... Oh, well....

Our good fortune is Chris's recovery from his Korean food poisoning, AND no bouts with food poisoning in Hong Kong! McDonalds and Starbucks on every corner were a welcomed sight in case we needed the comfort home. It also seems the locals like the McDonalds fare... As we peered in from the street, they were usually filled with locals rather than us westerners... There is a pic attached of some McDonald's workers backside -- complete with their "western shirts" and jeans with the "M" on the back pocket mimicking our Levis.

Now that we are in Tokyo – Chris is enjoying the “spa” toilet seat quite a bit – see pic. Pay particular attention to the “instructions” – kinda funny when you think about it! He mentioned this after his last trip here, but I was not quite sure what to expect. I think they sell these things at the Great Indoors. We will have to look into getting one when we get back. We went out with some friends from back home for dinner last night – and tried some Jelly Fish as well as Blow Fish (the kind that will kill you if it is not prepared properly). Needless to say, we are still alive, so it must have been prepared properly.

No meetings today, so we are going to take in a few sites down at the Royal Palace and head to a few temples. We’ve moved from the Korean Won to the Hong Kong Dollar and now to the Japanese Yen. In all the conversions thus far, we know the prices are indeed REALLY expensive in Japan. My tempura meal last evening was $70 and just sitting in a cab is $7 for a minimal fee --- and the fares have been running about $25 in between hotels (10 min commute). We are going to explore the subway today…