Hong Kong - Aug 16

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I made it to Hong Kong.  I took the above picture with my phone as we were landing, it isn't the greatest since the wing is in the way and it's blurry.  But you can see that Hong Kong looks very fun lit up at night.

 

Some quick observations...

 

They shouldn't serve things like broccoli, or cabbage, or beans on planes.  Enough said.

 

They take their avian flu concerns very seriously here.  If you even looked or sounded ill, you were quickly shepherded towards one of many temperature check stations.  I did my best to look very healthy as I didn't want to get stuck in quarantine.

 

The customs officers are quite pleasant, but super picky.  They wanted to know why there was crisscross marking on my passport.  You know like the kind of indentation you might get if you had written on a paper on top of your passport?  They let me in anyway, but let this be a lesson to you...don't write on top of your passport.

 

The 50 dollar pair of compression socks I bought seem to have helped a bit with my swollen ankle problem I get when I fly.  So I guess that was a good purchase.

 

It is humid here people.  Like really humid. 

 

Also, I left my brand new Ralph Lauren black sweatshirt on the cab, and it wasn't cheap, and I doubt I will ever see it again.  So that was sad.

 

My hotel is fantastic.  But my hair tools do not fit into the Hong Kong adapters.  You know how our plugs sometimes have one prong that is slightly wider?  Well, the Hong Kong adapters don't like that slightly wider prong.  Believe me I spent some time trying to force it in.   Whatever.  So...I couldn't do my hair today.   Which is ok, since I am sure I will be dripping wet as soon as I step foot outside, but still, one always likes to approach their day at their very best.  This doesn't seem to be a problem with the mainland China adapters, so I will attempt to do my hair for work for the next 2 weeks.  We shall see how long that lasts.

 

The breakfast buffet was really great.  Asians sure do like their buffets.   There was American style food, Japanese style food, and Chinese style food.  I stuck with American mostly.  But I did try a few Chinese dishes.  Some dim sums, since Hong Kong is supposedly famous for Dim Sum.   And Congee....see below.  It is very like grits, which I love.  From Wikipedia - Congee or conjee is a type of rice porridge or gruel popular in many Asian countries.  Mine had kidney beans in it today, another plus as I love kidney beans.

 

 

Diet Coke is gross here.  It's the sweetener they use.  I have found this in Eastern Europe as well.

 

That is all for now.  I have a driver picking me up in an hour to take me to mainland China.