F2FF Travel

HKU's Robert Black Welcomes Visiting Scholars!

2011-02-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

If you're booking a stay at the Robert Black College Residence (photo: left)) on the campus of Hong Kong University (HKU), make sure you pack light! We arrived after curfew and had to lift and thump (too many pieces!) our luggage up the stairs to a third floor suite - the elevator only went to level two. The RB staffer who opened up for us was pleasant enough even though we had clearly arrived 'after hours'. Not too smiley, but he did help with the luggage - a much appreciated gesture.

So...we settle in! Nice place! Very spacious! Beds comfortable. Simply furnished but newly painted and clean. A bit of trouble with the 'flushing' mechanism in the toilet, but that is fixed right quick the next day. TV, internet access, a fridge, dining table, telephone service. All around well equipped. A special 'perk' is our lovely view of Hong Kong harbor between the highrises that weren't there in 1967 when we first arrived or in 1969 when we left.

Round about 8 am the next morning we head down for breakfast in the staff dining room on the ground floor facing an inner courtyard. About 15 others there ahead of us - singles, and groups of two and four. Some chatting; some speaking Chinese, others English mostly. On the menu - choice of congee, eggs and bacon, fresh fruit, juice, coffee, tea. Simple, but decent food.I order eggs and bacon - eggs well done, as suggested by the WHO (World Health Organization)after China had to kill thousands of hens when several in a facility were found to be infected with the 'bird flu' virus.

After breakfast we head to the concierge's office for a map of the campus and to pick up an "Octopus" card - an MTR (Mass Transit Railway) pass. The agenda for the day is to check in with the Classical Music Department (photo: left) to meet with the folks handling Paul's lecture is this evening, tour the campus, and then head downtown by bus to see if we still recognized anything there. Hong Kong, you see, was our first home as a married couple! We got married in Montreal July 1966, and by September we were heading for Hong Kong where Paul would assume his first university teaching position - lecturer in Philosophy at Hong Kong University.

What a thrill for us to be 'back home' (in the poetic sense) again!

Diamond Princess Asia Cruise: Destination Hong Kong!

2009-04-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

(click on collage to enlarge photos)

Five AM in the morning we are picked up by our pre-arranged shuttle. Bleary-eyed and slightly comatose, I offer to help load the luggage. No help needed! I crawl into the back seat while Paul and the driver hoist the big'uns into the trunk space. I want to go right back to sleep, but I fight it, figuring there will be time enough for a long nap on the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong - after the 2.5 hour flight to San Francisco!

At the airport, the lines are mercifully short. We rid ourselves of our massive suitcases at check-in, and join the line at security. This too goes fast and fine! Time for a bit of a nosh! I seem to get the urge to eat a huge meal every time I am in an airport - and it is usually breakfast, which I rarely eat at home! What do you make of that?

Finally...boarding time. Our UA flight to San Fran is packed! Two and a bit hours and a pleasant flight later, we're in San Francisco, waiting for our HK connection at 11:55 AM. On time.

We settle in for a nice long ride. Five hours into the trip I've watched 3 movies! Time to sleep.

At 6:45 PM the next day, we land at HK's new airport (photo collage: above), an incredible piece of achitecture - on Lantau Island, and board the Airport Express train to Hong Kong (Victoria Island) Central. This is our first experience with a totally 'user-friendly' airport facility! What a pleasure! From the moment you get off the airplane to the moment you reach Hong Kong, travel is made easy for you. It starts with the free carts, which, by the way, are twice the size of any we have used in North America, and can easily handle our massive pieces of luggage.

Diamond Princess Asia Cruise: Flight to Hong Kong!

2009-04-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

It's 4:30 in the morning and we drag ourselves out of bed. We're totally packed - two 50 lb. suitcases and two carry-ons - and by 5:00 AM when our airport shuttle arrives, we are ready to go! Tired, excited, ready to go!

Our United Airlines flight takes us to San Francisco (3 hrs. 59 min.), and from San Francisco (4 hr. lay-over) we board another UA flight (14 hrs. 30 min.) to Hong Kong. ETA-HK is 6:45 PM (with time differences - the following day!).

For our South America cruise in 2007, we flew overnight to Buenos Aires. I think I prefer to spend 8 hours of a 14.5 hour flight sleeping. There's only so much reading, conversing, working, watching movies that one can do in (almost) 15 hours; the rest of the time one is trying to doze, or eating, or drinking. A long daytime flight seems to me much tougher on the body than a long night-time flight. What do you think?

We were, nevertheless, as comfortable as one could possibly be on a 14.5 hour flight, because I 'carried on' all the little comforts - eyepatches, blow-up back pillows and neck supports, earplugs, earphones, blankets. We were even equipped with our own miniature necklace air-purifiers!

So...14.5 hours later - 6:45 PM - we arrive in Hong Kong!

What an airport! Talk about 'people-friendly!'

Diamond Princess Asia Cruise: Packing for a Six Week Trip

2009-04-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are packing for what will be close to a six week journey to the Far East, starting with 8 days in Hong Kong (where Paul has a speaking engagement at HKU) - our first trip back to our first home as a married couple in 40 years! From there we'll fly to Bangkok where we board Princess Cruise Line's Diamond Princess for a 16 day South East Asia cruise .

I've been in "preparation" mode for a good month: researching; making lists; buying necessities; practising my elementary Mandarin (East Asian Studies at University of Toronto); simplifying.

Our Princess cruise will take us to Bangkok, Singapore, Vietnam, back to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Okinawa, Shanghai, and Beijing. We'll spend 5 days in Beijing, where Paul has speaking engagements at the China Conservatory of Music and at the Central Conservatory of Music, and then fly back to the USA (San Francisco). We'll be in California for 5 days and then head home.

So...what do you pack for a six week trip that takes you from anywhere from 40 - 90 degrees F? Last time we did that was in 2007 for our South American cruise (around Cape Horn!) on Celebrity's magnificent Infinity!

Paul says we took too much stuff on the SA cruise! Well - we used every single bit of what we took! And all that luggage wasn't a hardship because we didn't have to cart it around ourselves at any stage. I knew, however, that "hardship" might be an issue on this trip. We were not, you see, going directly to the ship from the plane. We were going to a Hong Kong University campus residence for visiting scholars at "mid-levels" (read "1/2 way up the mountain") on Victoria Island (Hong Kong)...by taxi - HK-sized taxi!

So...one big 50 lb. suitcase and a carry-on - that's what we decided to take. Have you any idea how "little" a 50 lb. suitcase can be when you're trying to pack for 4 seasons??? And how very nearly two 50 lb. suitcases and 2 carry-ons do NOT fit into a HK sized taxicab? Oooooh boy!

Video Gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-HXVMFC0F0

Diamond Princess Asia Cruise! No Turning Back Now!

2009-03-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

Okay...we're doing it! We're going back to Hong Kong after 40 years! We booked the trip a year ago, but there was always a chance we'd kind of bow out at the last minute. Not so! Going!!! We fly to Hong Kong, and after a week there, to Bangkok (Thailand), where we board the Diamond Princess on March 14th!

Naantali: Holiday Capitol of Finland!

2009-01-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

Naantali, the charming little (pop. 14,081) resort town nestled on the shores of the Baltic Sea, just 17 km (10 miles) outside Turku, the third largest city in Finland, has an amazing array of activities and services to offer visitors.

Getting There:
There used to be train service between the two cities, but no longer. To get to Naantali from Turku, you can drive, take a bus, (# 11 or 110, 30 min, 5USD app.), or go by water (2 hour trip) on the Ukkopekka steamship which winds through the gorgeous Turku archipelago. The steamship (26/33USD app. one-way/return) runs twice daily direct to old Naantali and Moominworld and operates June-Aug only.

Staying Overnight:

If you plan to stay over for several days, you have a choice of accommodations – anything from the luxurious (photo by Jani: left, Naantali Spa Hotel), to a cute and cozy apartment, to unique ‘holiday residences’, to a boutique hotel in the heart of the Old Town. Prefer to camp out? You can do that too!

If you have small children, you might consider the “family hostel” operated by the Naantali Spa. These modest accommodations are in a brick building across the road from the spa. You won’t have maid service, cable TV or a minibar, but you will have two small bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen – all for app. 120USD in off-season.

What to Do?:
So, now that you’re settled in, what are you going to find in Naantali to keep and your family occupied? Hopefully, you will have it all planned out before you arrive; you don’t want to find your destination closed when you get there!

Personally, Paul and I would want to be in Naantali during the chamber music festival (May 31-June 6, 2009), held through the months of the “midnight sun” – a unique Finnish experience! We would probably be spending a good deal of time at several of the excellent cafés, such as the Antonius (photo: left), or the Aschan, sampling its savory snacks, Satukakku cake - for which it is apparently famous – and cups of good, strong Latte!

We would most certainly do the gallery tour and visit the studios of Pentti Koivikko, Pentti Pullinen, Kristiina Turtonen, Jarkko Peltonen and Essi Peltonen.

Our trip to Naantali would have to include a tour of Naantali´s most famous building, the medieval Convent Church, built 1443-1462 as the heart of a convent complex. Over the centuries, the rest of the buildings have disappeared. Services are still held in this extraordinarily beautiful sanctuary.

On the opposite side of Naantalinlahti Bay is Kultaranta, a magnificent granite castle, summer home of the President of Finland . We would probably want to stroll its lovely gardens, completed in 1916, which are open to the public.

Then there is the medieval Louhisaari Manor, which was bought by the Mannerheim family (1795 - 1903) from the Flemings, who had owned it since it was built in the 15th century. Finland’s Field Marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim (1867-1951) was born there. I personally would feel compelled to visit Louhisaari Manor as the Mannerheim name figures in a moment of my own family history.

Suppose Paul and I had our children and our grandchildren with us – toddlers and 10-year olds? Gallery-hopping, café lunches, and historic tours would probably quickly tire them. So…is there anything fun for them to do in Naantali? Most certainly!

Naantali is probably best known among Finnish families for Moominworld!

What in the World is a Moomin?

Moominworld is "a fairytale you can step into", an amusement park inspired by a popular series of Finnish children’s stories by Tove Jansson.

“The Moomin Home Valley," according to press on the park, "is located on the little island, a place of great natural beauty next to Naantali. The Moomins live in a round, blueberry-blue Moomin House with five floors. There´s also the Hemulen´s House, Sniff´s Home, Summer Cottage and Moomintroll´s Playhouse. You´ll also find the Summer Theater Emma, Moomin Post Office and the Moomin Shop on the Home Island. Theater Emma is a real theatre, full of magic. Emma shows seven plays a day, both in Finnish and Swedish.

In Moomin Home Valley, Moomin fans will get to meet and play with their favourite characters, all as large as life.

The whole experience centers on the Moomin way of life, family values, friendship, security, respect for the environment and a sense of adventure. "

When to Go?
Unless you like crowds and long lines, you should probably consider a trip to Naantali and Moominland in mid-June to mid- August rather than in July, which is a big vacation month for Finns all over the country.

Finland Travel Videos

2009-01-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that the pickings seem kind of slim for good travel videos of Finland. Today's video gem at least hints at some exciting places to see in the country...hints! Time to get down to the nitty gritty - coming up!

Have You Travelled to Finland Yet?

2009-01-12T00:17:00.000-08:00

Trust me...Finland is an exciting country to visit, although you would never know it from the travel video on the right!!!

International Travel by Finns in 2007

2009-01-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

According to Statistics Finland, Spain was the most popular travel destination for Finns (out of Finland itself) in 2007.

Are you one of the 365,000 who travelled to that beautiful country two years ago - or recently? Have any videos to share? Comments on your trip?

Leave a comment on Finn2Finn Chat (right sidebar), or send me a video to the email address posted there, and share it with fellow Finns around the world!

Video Gem: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-dDMKchXLuIE/barcelona_2006/R/efp_video#