My Time in
Hong Kong...
Hong Kong...
| Elisa at Stanley Beach. |
December 1, 2007
Talk about slacking off with the journaling. Times like these I just feel ‘done’ with it. But I have to keep doing it. I will regret it if I don’
t. It’s just so darn tiring sometimes.
Anyway, it is now time to leave. Since I was here less than a year ago, it was rather familiar to me. I didn’t really do too much other
than putz around the Central area. I guess I did manage to throw a few other things in. But not much.
Well, here is an account of how my time in Hong Kong was spent:
November 26, 2007 – Night #1
I arrived in Hong Kong. And almost just as quickly, I went to sleep. The main highlight was the drive (courtesy of Emirates providing
me a chauffeured ride from the airport to anywhere I wished in Hong Kong) into the city. Call me a sucker for a glowing skyline with
huge skyscrapers.
November 27, 2007 - Day #1
I met Cindy near the Yahoo office for lunch. This was what would lead to a chain of events that would dictate the rest of my day.
I had received an email from United stating my flight was going to be delayed. I thought this was a bit odd that they would send this
four days in advance…but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I just forwarded it on to my girls to let them know I would be in Vietnam
even later than planned. When I met up with Cindy, this was when she pointed out that it was referring to my flight for that night.
Originally this was the date for my flight but I had changed the date of it months ago. So now I had to contact United. They would
then tell me that they didn’t even see a record for me. Okay. This was not looking too good. I then contacted Emirates who told me
the flight was never ticketed. What??? My first instinct was to contact my travel agent who booked the ticket. But I couldn’t – the
time change meant I would have to wait 14 hours before he would be in the office. I started pricing tickets. Nothing for less than
$200. I decided to hold off and wait to see what my agent said. After all, the price I paid for my RTW ticket was supposed to include
this flight so I was going to make sure that their offices would reimburse me for at least part of the ticket. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really
panicky – I was just going from one airline office to another. I guess it was a good way to see the different office buildings of Hong
Kong. And to think, I had the email stating the delayed flight (and Cindy’s good eye) to thank for all of this – otherwise I would have
arrived at the airport without a flight! At this point all I could do wait until the middle of the night which would be when the travel
agent would be getting into his San Francisco office.
That night I went over to Rose’s to hang out with her and Cindy. And I got wrapped up in watching the light-show from Rose's 26th
floor window that takes place on some of the buildings in the skyline. So awesome. But the objective of being there was to help Rose
pack for her trip. That never really happened since we ended up talking way too much. Excitement for Vietnam was taking place!
I stayed up until 3:00am. Originally the travel agent told me not to worry and that I was set to go on the flight. I relayed the info that
United and Emirates told me…and that was when he looked a bit harder and saw that the ticket for that flight was never issued! He
told me to go to Emirates in the morning to do a re-routing and pay the re-routing fee. For some reason he expected me to know that
it wasn’t ticketed even though he himself didn’t know it wasn’t ticketed…and kept assuring me the changes for my ticket had been
made. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. But I had more than enough time to go to Emirates in the morning so it wouldn’t be a problem.
November 28, 2007 - Day #2
I had one thing on my agenda for today and that was to get a flight to Saigon. Emirates could not have been sweeter. I love each and
every person in the Hong Kong office. I really do. I got my business class flight for the re-routing + taxes fee of just under $100. Sure
beats the $200 I was going to have to pay on one of the budget airlines.
The rest of my day was spent wandering from shopping center to shopping center and taking in the Christmas music and decorations.
Oh – and a bit of H&M shopping.
We went to the horse races at Happy Valley and had a great time. It might have been a bit better if I actually won one of my bets. But
whatever. The place was beautiful. It was funny because it looked like it was filled with just a bunch of people like us who were mostly
there to drink wine and place their minimal bets…yet in the matter of eight races, approximately 100 million US dollars was bet over
the course of the night. Clearly many of the big gamblers were incognito.
November 29, 2007 - Day #3
Woke up today with a hangover. At least there was the luxury of having yet another 11:30am rise-and-shine time.
All I can say is talk about being basically good-for-nothing today. I told myself a bit of physical activity would be good so I managed
to find my way to a trail to walk up to Victoria Peak. And of course I got lost. So what else is new? I ended up on a private road and
was so far out of my way that I had to end up walking down to the Peak. Doh.
Since I was up there, I decided to linger around for a while and check out the shops. And then I decided to come down. And then
come back to Daniel and Suzanne’s to take a nap. See? Completely good-for-nothing today.
Later on I met Cindy at Rose’s so that I could be part of the Welcoming Committee for Elisa’s arrival!
Silly me… I thought Elisa was going to be a bit tired when coming in. Nope. She was all ready to hit the town. I was not in ‘hitting the
town’ apparel. But we did manage to find a bar to grab a drink and catch up.
I can’t wait to go to Vietnam with my friends! It is going to be such a great time!
November 30, 2007 - Day #4
Elisa and I had such a great time today. Sure, we didn’t do too much. But we did enough. We started off at Stanley Market and
Stanley Beach. We had a good time and I ended up buying a painting kit that I bought last year in China and lost somewhere along
the way. Now, in theory, I can use my Chinese painting brushes and paint bamboo. Ha! As if that is really going to happen. But at
least in theory it is now possible since I have a Chinese painting kit.
From there, I told Elisa we would take the Star Ferry across to Kowloon (so she could see the skyline) and back. She didn’t take me
literally and thought we were actually going to hang out in Kowloon. I then shocked her when I said I was totally serious about not
wanting to spend any time out there and only going there so she could take a ferry ride. She got a pretty good laugh out of it. I told her
if anybody in the future gives her a hard time about not seeing something out there, she can put all the blame on me. Especially since
she wanted to see some aviary out there and I put the big smack-down on seeing some bird place. Instead we went back to Hong
Kong Island and went to the Four Seasons for High Tea. It was great and we both loved it…despite me talking about things non- Four
Seasons High Tea appropriate. Hehe. But it made it fun! And we were at least discrete.
From there we went up to the peak to watch the sunset and watch the lights of Hong Kong turn on. Elisa was impressed. Nothing
beats the lights of Hong Kong’s skyline. Talk about beautiful! I swear Elisa is about to move here. God it’s great having friends from
home with me.
3:30am
Oh my freakin’ god I am drunk. I ended up coming back home to Suzanne and Daniel’s – despite Elisa telling me I couldn’t and I
needed to sleep at Rose’s. As I was talking to her telling her that the room was spinning, she eventually passed out. And then I left and
headed home. Even though I know I will be hungover tomorrow at least I will be where I need to be. Oh I know it will be painful.
But at least I can get packed up since it’s my last day here. Hey, at least we had a fun night. Of course it only consisted of a liquid
dinner but that’s okay.
Day #5 – December 1, 2007
9:30am
Okay. I am trying to recall last night. I remember starting at the Feather Boa and having lots of good drinks. I remember the
strawberry daiquiri with the chocolate rimmed glass. And then there were the chocolate espresso martinis. And the chocolate martinis
with malt balls in them. I remember meeting some Australians there. And then I remember we all went to Dragon-I. And this is
where things are a bit of a blur. I don’t think I drank any more. I think I was just trying to look composed and not tip over. Maybe the
liquid dinner wasn’t such a great idea. I think we danced. But I don’t really remember. I don’t even have a clue when Cindy left the
club. I remember getting stuff to eat at Mix on our way home and then Elisa practically holding me hostage in Rose’s. And then Elisa
fell asleep when I was talking to her so, in the term that I learned from Elisa and Cindy last night, I ‘dipped out’. Now I feel like crap.
But I could feel like worse crap. This is manageable. I think I can recover with some Advil, water and a bit more sleep.
6:00pm
I’m at the airport now. I had a great time hanging out with Suzanne today (and I am happy to report that I ended up feeling great
once the Advil kicked in). All we really did was walk around a couple malls and Central Hong Kong but it was great chatting with her
all along the way. The time flew by and it was time to drop me off at the Airport Express. Hopefully next time I see Suzanne and
Daniel, it will be in San Francisco so I can finally be the one to provide them some hospitality.
Talk about slacking off with the journaling. Times like these I just feel ‘done’ with it. But I have to keep doing it. I will regret it if I don’
t. It’s just so darn tiring sometimes.
Anyway, it is now time to leave. Since I was here less than a year ago, it was rather familiar to me. I didn’t really do too much other
than putz around the Central area. I guess I did manage to throw a few other things in. But not much.
Well, here is an account of how my time in Hong Kong was spent:
November 26, 2007 – Night #1
I arrived in Hong Kong. And almost just as quickly, I went to sleep. The main highlight was the drive (courtesy of Emirates providing
me a chauffeured ride from the airport to anywhere I wished in Hong Kong) into the city. Call me a sucker for a glowing skyline with
huge skyscrapers.
November 27, 2007 - Day #1
I met Cindy near the Yahoo office for lunch. This was what would lead to a chain of events that would dictate the rest of my day.
I had received an email from United stating my flight was going to be delayed. I thought this was a bit odd that they would send this
four days in advance…but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I just forwarded it on to my girls to let them know I would be in Vietnam
even later than planned. When I met up with Cindy, this was when she pointed out that it was referring to my flight for that night.
Originally this was the date for my flight but I had changed the date of it months ago. So now I had to contact United. They would
then tell me that they didn’t even see a record for me. Okay. This was not looking too good. I then contacted Emirates who told me
the flight was never ticketed. What??? My first instinct was to contact my travel agent who booked the ticket. But I couldn’t – the
time change meant I would have to wait 14 hours before he would be in the office. I started pricing tickets. Nothing for less than
$200. I decided to hold off and wait to see what my agent said. After all, the price I paid for my RTW ticket was supposed to include
this flight so I was going to make sure that their offices would reimburse me for at least part of the ticket. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really
panicky – I was just going from one airline office to another. I guess it was a good way to see the different office buildings of Hong
Kong. And to think, I had the email stating the delayed flight (and Cindy’s good eye) to thank for all of this – otherwise I would have
arrived at the airport without a flight! At this point all I could do wait until the middle of the night which would be when the travel
agent would be getting into his San Francisco office.
That night I went over to Rose’s to hang out with her and Cindy. And I got wrapped up in watching the light-show from Rose's 26th
floor window that takes place on some of the buildings in the skyline. So awesome. But the objective of being there was to help Rose
pack for her trip. That never really happened since we ended up talking way too much. Excitement for Vietnam was taking place!
I stayed up until 3:00am. Originally the travel agent told me not to worry and that I was set to go on the flight. I relayed the info that
United and Emirates told me…and that was when he looked a bit harder and saw that the ticket for that flight was never issued! He
told me to go to Emirates in the morning to do a re-routing and pay the re-routing fee. For some reason he expected me to know that
it wasn’t ticketed even though he himself didn’t know it wasn’t ticketed…and kept assuring me the changes for my ticket had been
made. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. But I had more than enough time to go to Emirates in the morning so it wouldn’t be a problem.
November 28, 2007 - Day #2
I had one thing on my agenda for today and that was to get a flight to Saigon. Emirates could not have been sweeter. I love each and
every person in the Hong Kong office. I really do. I got my business class flight for the re-routing + taxes fee of just under $100. Sure
beats the $200 I was going to have to pay on one of the budget airlines.
The rest of my day was spent wandering from shopping center to shopping center and taking in the Christmas music and decorations.
Oh – and a bit of H&M shopping.
We went to the horse races at Happy Valley and had a great time. It might have been a bit better if I actually won one of my bets. But
whatever. The place was beautiful. It was funny because it looked like it was filled with just a bunch of people like us who were mostly
there to drink wine and place their minimal bets…yet in the matter of eight races, approximately 100 million US dollars was bet over
the course of the night. Clearly many of the big gamblers were incognito.
November 29, 2007 - Day #3
Woke up today with a hangover. At least there was the luxury of having yet another 11:30am rise-and-shine time.
All I can say is talk about being basically good-for-nothing today. I told myself a bit of physical activity would be good so I managed
to find my way to a trail to walk up to Victoria Peak. And of course I got lost. So what else is new? I ended up on a private road and
was so far out of my way that I had to end up walking down to the Peak. Doh.
Since I was up there, I decided to linger around for a while and check out the shops. And then I decided to come down. And then
come back to Daniel and Suzanne’s to take a nap. See? Completely good-for-nothing today.
Later on I met Cindy at Rose’s so that I could be part of the Welcoming Committee for Elisa’s arrival!
Silly me… I thought Elisa was going to be a bit tired when coming in. Nope. She was all ready to hit the town. I was not in ‘hitting the
town’ apparel. But we did manage to find a bar to grab a drink and catch up.
I can’t wait to go to Vietnam with my friends! It is going to be such a great time!
November 30, 2007 - Day #4
Elisa and I had such a great time today. Sure, we didn’t do too much. But we did enough. We started off at Stanley Market and
Stanley Beach. We had a good time and I ended up buying a painting kit that I bought last year in China and lost somewhere along
the way. Now, in theory, I can use my Chinese painting brushes and paint bamboo. Ha! As if that is really going to happen. But at
least in theory it is now possible since I have a Chinese painting kit.
From there, I told Elisa we would take the Star Ferry across to Kowloon (so she could see the skyline) and back. She didn’t take me
literally and thought we were actually going to hang out in Kowloon. I then shocked her when I said I was totally serious about not
wanting to spend any time out there and only going there so she could take a ferry ride. She got a pretty good laugh out of it. I told her
if anybody in the future gives her a hard time about not seeing something out there, she can put all the blame on me. Especially since
she wanted to see some aviary out there and I put the big smack-down on seeing some bird place. Instead we went back to Hong
Kong Island and went to the Four Seasons for High Tea. It was great and we both loved it…despite me talking about things non- Four
Seasons High Tea appropriate. Hehe. But it made it fun! And we were at least discrete.
From there we went up to the peak to watch the sunset and watch the lights of Hong Kong turn on. Elisa was impressed. Nothing
beats the lights of Hong Kong’s skyline. Talk about beautiful! I swear Elisa is about to move here. God it’s great having friends from
home with me.
3:30am
Oh my freakin’ god I am drunk. I ended up coming back home to Suzanne and Daniel’s – despite Elisa telling me I couldn’t and I
needed to sleep at Rose’s. As I was talking to her telling her that the room was spinning, she eventually passed out. And then I left and
headed home. Even though I know I will be hungover tomorrow at least I will be where I need to be. Oh I know it will be painful.
But at least I can get packed up since it’s my last day here. Hey, at least we had a fun night. Of course it only consisted of a liquid
dinner but that’s okay.
Day #5 – December 1, 2007
9:30am
Okay. I am trying to recall last night. I remember starting at the Feather Boa and having lots of good drinks. I remember the
strawberry daiquiri with the chocolate rimmed glass. And then there were the chocolate espresso martinis. And the chocolate martinis
with malt balls in them. I remember meeting some Australians there. And then I remember we all went to Dragon-I. And this is
where things are a bit of a blur. I don’t think I drank any more. I think I was just trying to look composed and not tip over. Maybe the
liquid dinner wasn’t such a great idea. I think we danced. But I don’t really remember. I don’t even have a clue when Cindy left the
club. I remember getting stuff to eat at Mix on our way home and then Elisa practically holding me hostage in Rose’s. And then Elisa
fell asleep when I was talking to her so, in the term that I learned from Elisa and Cindy last night, I ‘dipped out’. Now I feel like crap.
But I could feel like worse crap. This is manageable. I think I can recover with some Advil, water and a bit more sleep.
6:00pm
I’m at the airport now. I had a great time hanging out with Suzanne today (and I am happy to report that I ended up feeling great
once the Advil kicked in). All we really did was walk around a couple malls and Central Hong Kong but it was great chatting with her
all along the way. The time flew by and it was time to drop me off at the Airport Express. Hopefully next time I see Suzanne and
Daniel, it will be in San Francisco so I can finally be the one to provide them some hospitality.
| With Cindy at Happy Valley. |
| The gorgeous skyline. |
