Spring has Sprung

We are enjoying a lovely start to the spring season.  It is now dry and sunny with some very strong winds that are drying out the last of the late snow we received on Monday.  Since the weather was so bad I didn't feel like going to the store on Monday - driving sleet/snow and lousy roads - so I looked around the fridge for something I could make for dinner.  I found a few things and gave it some thought and then created a meal which turned out to be very good.  At the end of dinner I was talking to Cindy about how I created it and she said that we could video my recipe and send it to Colin since we had had so much fun talking about and eating his meals in New Zealand.  This link will tell you all you need to know about the dish.  

Tofu Delight hot out of the oven

 

The Tofu Delight Plated

Japanese Customs – a note from Cindy, aka Cinzia

In this day and age it seems that the world is getting more homogenous … witness gift shops the world over that carry too many of the same goods.  Fortunately, this is not so with some customs!

There are two Japanese customs related to air travel that I find very civil and extremely endearing.  The first is in the terminal when waiting to board.  At the appointed hour for boarding the plane - usually to the minute of the time printed on the boarding pass – all of the personnel responsible for getting everyone onto the plane gets into a horizontal row behind the counter and BOWS to all of the passengers!  Can you imagine? It is wonderful.

Then as the plane is backed out of the parking space and turned to make its own way toward the runway, all of the ground personnel get into a row and wave goodbye.  I don’t mean a quick wave of the hand, I mean they stand there with one arm extended and they wave and wave and wave until the plane rolls out of their line of sight.  This last time in Tokyo there was a ferocious dust storm happening and they all wore masks, but that did not curtail their habit of waving goodbye for several minutes.  I always wave from my window but I’ll never know if they see me or if they’re just looking toward the pilots.  In any case, I appreciate this practice very much and I hope they never stop doing it. Click here to see more - this is very short version of what I saw.

We hope that you all have a most enjoyable and weather friendly start to spring.  With best wishes,  Cinzia and Wm

Home At Last

Home At Last

Our final day in Wellington was delightful.  We had a lovely morning and enjoyed our final views of the harbor, which was sparkling in bright sunlight.  I could see some fog creeping into the valley and it was like looking at San Francisco Bay.  We packed our things and left some to be shipped home since we wanted to carry our luggage with us on the plane.  We stopped at the Embassy to pick up Meagan and then the four of us went for a goodbye lunch at a restaurant called Portlander.  It featured burgers, which isn’t our thing, but Colin assured us that these were not ordinary burgers.  Boy, was he right.  I got a smoked lamb burger with mint and grilled onions and mushrooms. It was out of sight.  Meagan and Cindy got the fish burger, which was grilled - and fantastic - while Colin’s traditional hamburger was something you might see in a fancy cooking magazine.  They advertised hand cut French fries and we indulged, and I’m happy we did since I’ve never seen fries as thick and fresh as those were.  After our final toasts we departed for the airport where we waited for our five o’clock departure to Wellington.

The flight itself was actually fun. It was only forty-five minutes but it had views that were unbelievable.  Air New Zealand has a wonderful service even on the short hauls: Local wines, beers and fresh cheeses were served and smiles were abundant.  (We looked at each other multiple times and said, “just like US carriers,” with heavy sarcasm.)  We got to Auckland on time and walked from domestic to international where we checked in for the long flight to Shanghai. The agent took a look at our bags, regular 20” rollers, and said that Air New Zealand only allowed bags to be carried on that weigh less than 7kg.  Well, mine was 14kg and there was no way they would allow that so we had to repack some stuff and check our two bags.  We waited five hours in a lovely lounge for the 23:45 flight and boarded on time and departed on time.  We had about seven hours of sleep, enjoyed the service and films, and arrived at Shanghai at 7am local.

I had contacted United to see about getting on the earlier flight from Shanghai to Tokyo and was told that I would have to do that in Shanghai.  We got through customs and security by 8:15 and figured we would have plenty of time to make the 10:15 flight. As it turned out, time wasn’t the issue.  The agent at the ANA counter had no idea what we were talking about when we asked to get on the 10:15 instead of the 13:20. She called someone and spoke for a while and then told us that we had to call United since they had issued the tickets. I tried to explain that United told us to talk with ANA but the language barrier as well as the inability of the agents to be flexible stymied us and we were condemned to spend another five hours in Shanghai.  We had both convinced ourselves that it would be easy to get on the earlier flight so this was a big disappointment, especially since there is really nothing you can do in Shanghai Airport. You can’t even download the NYT since China blocks that website, as they do many other news outlets like BBC.

We finally boarded and had to wait another forty-five minutes due to ATC problems in Shanghai. China is notorious for flight delays and they have had a lot of ‘air rage’ on their domestic flights.  On this flight to Tokyo everyone was polite and patient and we eventually took off and flew out of the smog of Shanghai.  We must have just missed the bus to the hotel since we had to wait another thirty minutes at the airport for the next one, which took us to the hotel in an agonizingly long thirty minutes. We were really whipped when we got there and after checking in we purchased our dinner at the little market in the hotel and headed up to the bar where we just made it under the wire for happy hour.  We had a lovely dinner in the room and flopped into bed for a well-deserved eight hours of sleep.

When we woke up and opened the shades we were greeted by what looked like a post-apocalypse scene: strong winds and dust so thick that we couldn’t see the road, which was only about 100 yards away.  Things got a lot worse and we were worried that our flight might be canceled.  Everything was running late and for good reason. They had reduced all incoming and outgoing traffic to one runway and the visibility combined with the very strong and gusting winds made the airport a complete mess.  We actually boarded our flight on time but it was another two hours before we were actually in the air, most of that time spent inching our way to the runway.  Once airborne our ANA flight was flawless: great service, fantastic food, wonderful wines and comfortable seats that allowed us to sleep for six hours.  We did not make up any time and landed two hours late, but we were able to carry on our luggage and thought we would just breeze though immigration since we have Global Entry which allows us to just scan our passports in a machine, saving lots of waiting time.  Unfortunately, all of the machines were not working, although no one told us this until we were standing there while the machines just kept going in circles. Finally an agent came and told us all the machines had been broken all day and we were to fill in the immigration forms and get in line, albeit a short one.  So much for speed.

It was grand to get home and toss all our clothes in the washer. Unfortunately, moments before we left for this trip when I’d gone to turn the hot water heater to vacation mode, I noticed the floor was soaking wet and the relief valve was leaking water.  I had to turn the entire unit off, shutting of the gas and water to the heater, and just resolved to address the issue when we got home.  Well now we were home and all we really wanted was a hot shower, but that was going to have to wait until the next day.  I muddled though the late afternoon, made a dinner of baked salmon, rice, green beans and edamame, and we forced ourselves to stay awake until 9:30 when we finally crashed for ten hours, with the help of modern chemicals.

In the morning I drove to Home Depot and purchased a new Temperature/Pressure Release Valve and installed it in the hot water heater, without swearing even once! We now have hot water and a dry basement.  We have packed Hunter up for his trip back to Florida, but not before he had one more evening of wine and song. He was very happy to know that he was heading back to his class and friends but sorry to be leaving the party!

Ciao, Cindy and Wm

Hunter's Last Party with the Embees

Queenstown, NZ

Queenstown, New Zealand

All too soon it was time to head for Queenstown, which is in the southern part of the south island. It is a lovely little city right on Lake Wakatipu which is surrounded by alpine mountains that soar up from the edges of the lake.  It is all quite dramatic and the city is filled with backpackers, hikers, and young folks in search of adventure, and believe me there is a lot of that to be had here.  They are famous for their daredevil boat rides that go though canyons at very high speeds.  There is also lots of bungee jumping; skydiving, rock climbing, paragliding and other outdoor activities that had us exhausted just reading about them.  We contented ourselves with long walks, especially in and around the Queenstown Gardens, which have to be one of the most beautifully landscaped gardens we have ever seen.

We took many long walks around the gardens and talked with the groundskeeper that was only too happy to tell us everything we wanted to know about the gardens. The local giant crocuses were blooming and we could see the large stamens that when harvested and dried become saffron, ounce for ounce the world’s most expensive spice.  There are enormous redwoods, Douglas firs, Spanish chestnut and oak trees that have all been transported from the States and Europe to make the garden unique in New Zealand.  After our morning run/walk through the garden we always headed to a little French bistro for fantastic coffee and the very best croissant in the world. This was a piece of sheer beauty: dense, flaky and filled with buttery delight. It was not your typical light as a feather confection but rather a substantial pastry that begged to be shared.  It even had the dark brown stains on the paper napkin that indicated freshness, just like in Lake Woebegone.

One day we took a gondola to the top of Queenstown and had spectacular views of the entire alpine lake and its many rivers and valleys. We hiked around the top of the mountain and watched a few paragliders jumping off the mountain and soaring for long periods of time.  After a few hours we returned to town and had a wonderful lunch at a little fish and chips joint. We ordered our fish pan-seared so we didn’t have the complete experience, but the pineapple fritter more than made up for our efforts to lighten the deep fried experience.

We went to a restaurant on Steamer Wharf called Pier 19 and had the absolute best meal - outside of Colin’s cooking - in New Zealand.  We didn’t have high expectations since most of the meals here have been expensive and mediocre.  This however proved that you could have a view and still produce some great food. We started with a shared order of bruschetta, which was a lovely tray of five small toasted slices of baguette topped with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and red onion, which was drizzled with reduced balsamic and was heavenly.  Cindy then had a fresh hunk of salmon that was baked with a miso reduction and served with smashed potatoes and a salad of fennel, citrus and olives.  I had my annual shot at pork and ordered loin chops grilled served with mustard applesauce and a fresh variation on Waldorf salad: beet leaves, apple, celery, grapes, sweet walnuts and an über light vinaigrette.  Everything went well with the comparatively inexpensive local Sav Blanc.  Truly a delightful meal by every standard.

There is an old twin-screw steamship that was built in 1912 and is still plying the waters of the lake.  It is very large and could hold 1050 people before there were rules regulating loads.  It is a very elegant vessel in every detail except for the fact that it is still powered by soft brown coal, which is just the most foul smelling thing you can imagine. It broke our hearts to see this thing belching thick black smoke out of the stack as it pulled away from the dock. You could see this filth for miles and miles, which seemed so weird to us since New Zealand works so hard at being pure and clean.  I guess if you are an enthusiast it is a chance to relive the past, but we think they should swap out the old engine for something much cleaner.

The time slipped away from us as usual and our three days disappeared.  Our flight back to Wellington was stunning. Since it was a prop plane we stayed at about sixteen thousand feet, which meant we could see all of the magnificent alpine lakes, mountains and river valleys that form the spine of the South Island. Any of you who have seen the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings would recognize these views since this is where they were filmed.  We were even able to see Mt. Cook, which is usually shrouded in clouds.  Literally a picture perfect flight, which we enjoyed immensely.

Hunter on the Hobbit Plane

The smelly steamship

Hunter and the Kiwi

Getting directions for the hike.

View from the mountain

Hunter in his Hobbit Hole

Grand Gondola Ride

Hunter and the Silver Fern

Best Breakfast Ever

Duck Pond in the Gardens