Loose in Hong Kong

The first thing I learned and that you’ll need to know about Hong Kong is that it is built into the side of a mountain. It’s as if someone scooped out the foot of the mountain and began to build a base of tightly packed high rises to make sure it remained propped upright. From certain vantages you look up and the high rises just seem to fade into lush greenery that adorns the peak. It is like nowhere I’ve ever seen before in that regard. I intend to show pictures of this but the smog was obstructing the shot this morning…stay tuned.

On the other hand, it is crowded, busy and alive to the point that it is as close to New York as any city I’ve ever been (eg New York is to Hong Kong as Boston is to Summit…you know what I mean). The drivers are aggressive and taxis seem to outnumber other cars 10 to 1. At 6:45 am this morning I hopped in one of those cabs outside my apartment, and attempted to provide the driver with my desired destination in the best Chinese I could muster (I figured I failed miserably because he looked back at me as if I had insulted his mother or kicked his pet gerbil or something). Thankfully, it turns out that I must had spoken what amounted to jibberish and he graciously broke the tension by asking where I needed to go in perfect King’s English. His diction would have made Ms. Bramhall proud. Now that we were all the same page, we cruised down the steep slope that leads right into the heart of what could be considered Hong Kong’s business district.

I felt more at ease when I was able to locate the office (took me all of about 2 and half whole minutes) and from there I decided to head out aimlessly to see what was around. Granted I patrolled a very isolated section of a rather large city, but only two words come to mind about the area: Malls and Parks. There is a park around every corner – some offering sanctuary for birds and others littered with locals engaged in their morning Tai Chi routines. There was even a park that boasted that it was home to the national tea museum (fascinating…can’t help but hope they’ve got an autographed picture of Christopher Hewett in there or something).

The malls seem to wind on forever and connect pockets of office high rises. It provides the luxury of commuting without exposing yourself to the weather. A very handy consideration in deed considering the proximity to typhoon season (which apparently starts in April) and for times like now when it is considered very cold. Which brings me to my next observation…people are bundled up here as if they were about to set off on the Iditarod. Everyone has on a thick jacket and bulky scarf. I personally felt extremely comfortable and walked around without warm clothing for hours. I mean, come on…it’s in the low 60’s. Wonder how the Hong Kongese would handle the winter we’re having in the Tri-State area.

The next three hours were spent mostly just trying to get lost. I was able to locate the edge of the harbor (HK is squeezed together with a harbor on one side, mountain on the other), a small street market and countless Chinese people wearing hospital masks. What I wasn’t unfortunately able to find was something that I wanted to eat and so I made my way back to my apartment and caught lunch at the local safe haven.

I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other…

Good Evening Hong Kong...

I’ll give you all the "10-peso version" of the remainder of the flight. I was able to catch about 3 hours of shuteye sandwiched in between watching the entire first season of the new comedy, “Modern Family.” I kid you not I had to catch myself from laughing out loud on several occasions. It made the time fly and if you are not a viewer currently, I highly recommend that you tune in.

Dinner was served about 2 hours before we touched down. The meal started with a fruit and cheese appetizer and was capped off by some sort of a pasta product. Once that was all devoured I was pretty sure that I had set some sort of a record for calories consumed on a Pan-Pacific flight. Regardless, it was all very well done and I waddled off the plane fully satisfied and feeling somewhat like a cross between a wood tick and a three-toed sloth ready to meet China head on.

Stepping off the plane was a bit of a surreal experience for me. It marked the first time in my life that I ever stepped foot on any land not considered North America. Two things became immediately apparent. 1) The Hong Kong Airport is enormous and 2) It looked an awful like any other airport I have ever been in. I finally made it to customs and was pleasantly surprised that the line was manageable. Once it was my turn I presented my documentation, explained the reason for my trip and was promptly waived through to get my bags.

With bags in tow, I decided that I would test the Airport Rail Shuttle on for size with intention of taking it all the way to Central City in Hong Kong. The ticket cost 100 $HK and the trip took a total of 24 minutes. If this ride is any indication of the rail infrastructure here, China has it all over New York. It was clean, spacious, quick and easy to understand. Once off the train, I took a taxi to the apartment to which I’ll be staying.

Needless to say that after the long journey I was a bit wired and so I took a stroll down the street and stopped in to a convenience store to grab some essentials. Once back, I sat down with a beer and the remote with intentions to polish off the evening. As it turns out, I have access to exactly 14 channels in my apartment (For those of you that missed the Vivian Chow music spectacular last night, I feel for you…it occupied 3 full stations here). Only one of those channels, “Pearl Network,” was offering programming in English. Just my luck, it was playing some god-awful Rowan Atkinson movie that was damn near unwatchable. I did my best to keep up, but my mind wandered and eventually I tossed in the white towel and called it a night

Couple of shots of the Bedroom and the View I Enjoy from my 5th Floor Balcony

Get Away Day

I’m off to Hong Kong.

If you’re anything like I was about two and a half weeks ago, other than to say it is in China, you know very little about where Hong Kong actually is. This seems like a good place to start… Hong Kong is an island that rests on the far South East border of Mainland China. In layman’s terms…it’s a hell of a long way from Home! Now, having half of the world separating you from Home obviously presents some rather large logistical issues. For instance, the phone number that I have used since first signing on for cell phone service in 2003 has officially been suspended…(all 6 of you out there that have that number in your phones…I apologize for the inconvenience). Once I get situated, I anticipate that I’ll have something akin to a 17-digit phone number that probably carries a rate per minute to call or receive calls from the U.S. somewhere north of $3 (~24 Hong Kong dollars for those of you scoring at home). Not practical for keeping in touch with anyone. So, what am I getting at? I am fortunate to have a lot of people that I care about and I need to keep in touch with them while I’m gone the next few months. This Blog just might be the most efficient way to go about doing that. Regardless of whether you feel honored, indifferent, or downright disinterested, I’m cordially inviting you to join me. On the record, this Blog is solely designed to be a medium I can use to stay in touch with friends and family. Off the record, I’ll be very disappointed if I’m not able to entertain. I invite criticism, but remember to cut me some slack…it’s not like this is Sandwichthoughts.com or anything…

At this very moment, I’m on the wrong end of a 17-hour flight on an airline that I had never heard of until I booked my rather pricey one-way ticket last week. I’ll be flying business class on Cathay Pacific Airlines. Flying business is a new experience for me and I have come to learn over the past hour or so that it does not come without its perks. Cathay boasts a great first class lounge…in fact, I’m availing myself of its amenities as I type. A little stuffy and rigid, but first class no doubt. And boy is the atmosphere friendly. Even though my worn down jeans and Under Armour t-shirt scream out that I don’t belong with the other lounge patrons in suits and sweaters, not one of the extremely friendly staff has looked at me crooked. I’ve even received a couple of friendly smiles from the very helpful, attentive and if I might add, attractive, cocktail waitress.

It’s a very interesting arrangement. Thirsty? Close your eyes and think of your favorite top shelf liquor…it’s here…free…in any quantity you’d like. Beers? Forget it, I’m working on #2 now and those 2 just so happen to be the pride of two different European countries. Hungry, however, and your choices are somewhat limited. You can fill up on as many granola bars as you’d like or you can fix yourself a cup of Ramen noodles. I’m partial to neither and so I think my plan will be to fill up on the booze now and worry about getting something to eat on the flight.

I’m here about 4 hours early (surprised? anyone?) and the lounge is pretty sparsely populated. However, there is a crowd of what look to be 3 Asian businessmen sitting directly to my right engaged in jovial conversation. My best guess?… they’re speaking Cantonese, but let’s be honest… I have absolutely no idea. I wonder whether I’ll be able to differentiate these sorts of things by the time my stint is winding down. How long does one have to be ensconced in a society or culture until these sorts of details start to reveal themselves? I don’t plan to be gone that long. If it doesn’t become apparent, it won’t be for lack of effort…I can promise you that.

The time in the lounge has been spent suspending my phone service, freezing my gym membership (I pretty much acted as if it had been frozen for the past 3 years anyway) and trying to download a documentary that I’ve wanted to see for quite some time now. Success on the first two tasks, Bill Mahr’s “Religulus” will unfortunately have to wait until I get a stronger Internet connection. Hopefully they’ll have a couple of documentaries to choose from on the flight’s movie selection. Ok…I should probably take this opportunity to clarify something… I happened to find Bill Mahr about as agreeable as a mayonnaise sandwich on 7-grain toast; however, I think that the topic of the movie has potential and I have heard good things. Couple all that with the fact that I can’t recall the last time I was truly disappointed in a documentary and I hope you can understand the anticipation.

Alright…it’s boarding time. Next update will be from 18D…

I couldn’t be happier with my set-up here. Not only do I have my own little cubicle fully equipped with a reclining seat, but Cathay is smartly offering the highly anticipated dance epic “Step Up 3” as one of their new released movie options. If you ask me, the world would have been cheated if the producers had decided to leave us all hanging after the first two installments. As I sit here I can’t help but wonder how long a flight would have to be for me to tune in to that one. The better part of a decade would be my best guess. All kidding aside, we took off but 30 minutes ago and this experience has already ruined flying coach class for me for the rest of my life. Here’s a snippet from the full menu/wine list: Lunch: Starters – Mesculun salad with raspberry vinaigrette and Pan-seared prawns with cous-cous. I know, navigating that spread is a daunting task for anyone without a refined pallet. Yet, those that know me well know that one of my short-term goals in life is to get into seafood and more specifically shellfish. I just find the whole culture very social and the act of enjoying this type of food with others a great way to spend time with company. The reality of it is that I’m not there yet…I’m not always able to handle it from a taste standpoint. That being said, I don’t know what the hell a prawn is but I’m damn sure looking forward to trying to check it off my list.

The Jack and Coke that I ordered was delivered in something that closely resembled one of the small orange juice glasses at the famous Ritz Diner in Livingston, New Jersey. For those of you who haven’t been to The Ritz, you’re missing out on the world’s best taylor ham and cheese on a bagel sandwich. I digress…the small glass at the Ritz used for orange juice is approximately 3 times the size of a thimble. It ain’t cheap either. They probably charge $3 for it. I vividly recall that on the rare occasion that our family did get a chance to go out for breakfast, my father would make sure his three children had gotten their fill of orange juice before we left the house. I was disappointed not to be able to drink it with the meal then, but looking back now, I’ll do the same with my kids some day. Anyway, the gentleman that is serving the beverages on the flights has already had reason to visit my seat 3 times with intentions of filling my shot glass sized cup. I’m starting to feel like a nusciance.

What a great three-course lunch it was and it was all capped off by an almond covered chocolate candy. I didn’t eat that, but I’m pretty sure I know some people at the office that would really enjoy it. If it’s not stale in a couple months, I’ll bring it in for you all.

I just got another visit from the flight attendant and he once again asked me if I’d care for another drink. I nodded…he delivered. What I should have said was…”listen, why don’t you just leave the bottle here and check on me in an hour…it’ll be a lot less awkward for both of us.” I wussed out though. It would be an aggressive move, but don’t count it out at some point…there’s still 12 hours and 55 minutes to go…

Oh and the first discovery opportunity of this great journey was a terrible disappointment. Apparently, prawn is another word for shrimp…