Hong Kong Observations

Trip is Over
Well, I'm back at work but not entirely back on U.S. time. Our journey is complete and I am disappointed that I will not be able to blog since the excitement in my life has subsided for now. I figured I'd take one last opportunity to post to our travel blog with my closing thoughts on our trip to Hong Kong.

Mac Tonight Still Employed
Its refreshing to know that Mac from the Mac Tonight is still gainfully employed. He is here in Hong Kong promoting McDonald's 24 hour service. I was unable to snap a pic of the advertisement with Mac that I saw on the side of a bus because buses in HK drive about 80 mph down little streets. If you forgot Mac, here is what he looks like.


Facial Hair
This was Williams observation but I find it very interesting. No men in HK have facial hair. Not sure why but I spent most of the day Friday looking for a guy with facial hair. This new obsession most likely distracted me from finding funny signs but it was to interesting to ignore. William was the only guy I noticed in HK with facial hair. On Saturday I finally saw a guy with facial hair whom I wish I took a picture of. He kinda looked like the guy in Kill Bill that trained Uma Thurmond. I think he might have been homeless. So, in translation, only homeless guys have facial hair.

Baseball Hats
Guys don't seem to where baseball hats here. Maybe it's illegial and that is why the cop in the airport told William to take his off. I did see some teenage girls wearing the trailer trash mesh hats when we were in the mall yesterday so baseball hats don't seem to be banned all together.

Litter
While the city seems to have a constant smoggy haze hanging over it and many of the buildings are pretty dirty and shack-like, HK is surprisingly litter free.

Chop Sticks
While I'm sure the fish heavy diet of the Chinese plays a part in why they are so thin, I think more of it has to do with Chopsticks.

Hong Kong Rich
With the exchange rate being about $7.80 to $1 American, one could get the impression he was rich. William and I referred to this as "Hong Kong Rich". We were very disappointed to learn that they just raised the prices of products so pricing was equivalent.

Crossing Signals
Every intersection in Hong Kong has a crossing signal that has a clanking sound that rings when it is safe to cross. This clanking sound gets faster as the signal gets closer to changing to red. It really adds suspense to the situation. For me, the sound translated into a little old Chinese man saying hurry, hurry, hurry over and over again.


Disappointments
There were a few things about the trip that were disappointing.

Toilet Technology
Watching the Simpson's travel to Tokyo led me to believe that Asia was far advanced when it came to toilet technology. Sadly, my toilet did not make any sight seeing suggestions and while it didn't say so, I don't think it was happy to receive my waste.

Avenue of the Stars Omissions
The following stars were omitted on the Hong Kong Avenue of the Stars.

• Hong Kong Phewy
• Long Duck Dong - AKA - Gedde Watanabe
• China the Wrestler - While not Chinese, she should be acknowledged for her representation of the country.

Chinese Game Shows
Again, this is probably more of a Japanese thing, but I was excited to watch game shows hoping that they would be funny like the Japanese shows I have seen. Unfortunately the Chinese do not share the game show genius gene that the Japanese possess. I was only able to find one game show that seemed to be a low budget Price is Right rip-off.

Historical Sightseeing
I was disappointed to learn that most of the sightseeing in Hong Kong was either man made sights or shopping locations. Hong Kong doesn't seem to have a well preserved history, or if they do, they don't promote it well.

Overall it was a really good trip. I don't think I would ever would have ventured to the east if it wasn't for my job. It looks like we will be going back soon so we will be able to add to this blog in the future.

Last Day in Hong Kong

As William said in his post, our plan today was to go to The Peak, Stanley Market, the Rugby Store, and Causeway Bay. We landed up going 2 for 4 which is pretty good day in baseball.

Like most days this week my day started with a trip go McDonald's. I was thinking this morning that the manager is going to be very happy with the revenue this week with William, Asif and I being there so much. The joke is on them since they will have to explain the sudden drop in sales next week when we are gone. After eating we all regrouped to head out for our day of sight seeing. Our first sight was Starbucks since nobody had their coffee as of yet. We then took the subway to Central Station to make our way to The Peak.


To get to The Peak we had to take the tram goes up the side of the mountain. Once we found the tram to The Peak we learned we were in for the extra special treat of the Bunny Easter Fun Fun Fun exhibit once we got to the top.


Riding the tram was like going up the first drop on a roller coaster. I didn't have my protractor with me but I am venturing a guess that our angle up the mountain was anywhere between 45 and 75 degrees. This didn't sit well with William who looked at the floor most of the trip up and down the mountain.

The angle of the tram window and the scenery out the window should give perspective of the angle we had to take to get to the top.

Once we got to the top we had to go up another five floors to the observation deck which was amazing. We were so high up that clouds were literally hitting the mountain which made it a little hazy at times. Like the light show last night, I don't think any picture can do this scene justice but here are a few shots just to give you an idea.




After the Peak we made our way to Stanley Market, which William and I swore we could walk to since it looked close on the map in the subway station. Fortunately we decided to take a cab which got us there in about 3o minutes through narrow windy roads out of the city.


Stanley Market was really cool. It was like a giant flea market where we could get our haggle on.


The market was in this cool little town on the water. The town like most of Hong Kong gave you no indication that you were in an Asian country. Other than the millions of Chinese people and signs everywhere.


Overall it was a really good day. There were some disappointments though. We weren't able to find the Rugby store and we never made it to Causeway Bay. In addition, I wasn't able to fine any amusing signs today other than the Bunny Easter Fun Fun Fun exhibit, which by the way consisted of a few rabbits in a cage. I did however observe this scene.


While yes there is a picturesque Chinese fisherman docking his boat for the day but what is amusing is the fact that the dock consists of a mattress covered in plastic and netting. As William said, this gives a whole new meaning to the term "water bed". In addition, you have to love the ingenious use of surf boards and shipping pallets used here to make some sort of fishing vessel.

After a long day we make our way back to the hotel to rest up for our long journey back to the U.S. in the morning.

A New Day

It is Saturday morning and early. Today will be a busy day of sightseeing, agenda below, and shopping. The sun is up and there is a thick haze over the city right now. Starbucks isn't open yet, but the fish market is up and running.

• Take the cable car to the peak.
• A trip to Stanley Market.
• Central Station to visit the rugby store.
• Causeway Bay section for shopping.

A full day to say the least.

All is quiet on the Hong Kong front

As much fun as this trip has been, I am bored out of my mind right now, it is 5:30 and I have nothing to do but play poker online.