The menu is designed and fixed, and when you arrive the menu will be in decorative envelopes (one for each person), addressed to the host of the party listing the night’s dishes.

Chef Wu is famous for his creative dishes, he ensures a strict high standard for every single element to ensure that each item is a masterpiece.  That particular night, we had a 7 course meal starting with a cold whole abalone salad, a hot and flavorful shark fin soup, a sliced duck wrap, steamed prawn, Chinese sausage rice, a red bean rice cake and apple pastry, and ending with a crisp fresh coconut milk fruit medley.

We ordered bread, a German Sausage combo plate, and of course, my beloved Schweinshaxe.  The bread was served with two different spreads, one was more like a creamy cheese spread, the other was liverwurst.  The Sausage medley was awesome, it came with a sort of “mashed” potato dish on the side.

The highlight of the dinner was definitely the schweinshaxe.  It was crusty and crunchy on the outside, and moist and tender on the inside.  It was served with the traditional sauerkraut and potatoes.  One thing I enjoyed immensely was that the schweinshaxe was very clean, there are those places that serve a similar piece of meat (pork leg) and you can still see the little hairs on the skin.  This definitely was not the case at King Ludwig’s, the skin was clean and I did not notice any hairs.  Yay!

If you are in Hong Kong, and want to have some delicious German food….  I would definitely look this place up!

I WISH I was good enough to go to Julliard.  Maybe in another life time.

The most memorable thing about going to Central Park was the woman that we met right outside it.  This woman, who may have been mentally unstable, appeared to be a transient.  As I was readying my party for a photo, she went and stood a few feet from my uncle and proceeded to stare at him.  I, noticing her, stared at her and motioned for everyone to move a little farther so that I didn’t have to take a picture with her in it.  As they scooted away, she proceeded to follow my uncle and stare at him some more.  It was quite bizarre.  I, feeling a little irritated, was about to ask her to “please move so I could take a picture” when she suddenly walked away.  Bizarre.  Oh well.  Life goes on.  On a brighter note, the clouds were especially beautiful that day.  :D

While walking around the outside of Central Park, I did see a line of horse drawn carriages awaiting employment.  I could not help but feel sorry for the horses standing there looking so forlorn.  I was able to get a photo of one of them.  If you want a nice ride around the park, try getting one that doesn’t require the use of these poor horses that are hitched up day after day for the amusement of tourists.  There are plenty of little bicycle pulled carriages to transport you around the park.  You won’t find a shortage of them as the riders often come to the edge of the park and solicit their services to anyone who looks like a tourist.  Their ability to detect tourists is uncanny…  its almost as if they can smell us!  :O

Even though I was able to take photos, I feel as if the photos are inadequate, I wasn’t able to fully capture how bright this part of the city is at night.  Someday I’ll go back again.

If you want a good view of the Statue of Liberty, I definitely recommend the Circle Line Cruise as they take you directly in front of the statue for a nice view.

The city itself is beautiful and familiar, familiar even though I have no recollection of my first visit to the city when I was 3 years old.  Many of our movies were filmed in this landmark city, and I recognize the tall skyscraper buildings.  New Yorkers are friendly, more than once I received directions from a helpful Subway rider without actually asking for directions.  They seem to know when tourists need a hand and gladly point out which way we should be going.

The following pictures are taken from Herald Square, China Town, and various places throughout the city.  You’ll be able to see the famous Empire State Building, Policemen on horseback, the Confucius building, Staten Island ferry, Battery Park, a hot dog cart, and a very ragged looking pigeon.

The monuments and government buildings were nice, but some of the areas on the outskirts left much to be desired.  A lot of road work was being done (which is good), but the outskirts reminded me of cities like Oakland, CA.

The one place in DC that I really wanted to visit was the Lincoln Memorial.  It definitely is one of the biggest tourists attractions (as evidenced in my photos) as there were a massive amount of people littering the steps to this glorious building.  There were people sitting on the steps, eating, talking, and resting all over the monument.  It was even crowded inside the building as well.  There were even religious groups talking on the steps of the memorial, preaching to anyone within earshot.

Even though I didn’t get pictures, I also saw the FBI Building (X-Files immediately came to mind!), the IRS Building, and the USDA building.