It's Hong Kong!

Let's see if I can do this. Bulk of the photos are at 0612HongKong. It's obvious I took many more than are shown.

Here are some of the fun ones. With witty captions

The shuttle train from the airport to Hong Kong Island


First night's dinner was at a great little restaurant with European food. GP really liked the clams. I enjoyed the beer.


The buildings were generally lit up and color changing. Very nice for photos, but maybe not without a tripod.


Only orange juice. She's not a drinker.


Found this parked near the ruins in Macau. GP checked to see if the keys were in it.


The ruins of St. Paul's. Interesting history, but I don't remember it, so I'm not telling you. Use Google.


The cars in Macau were pretty cool - some neat Japanese models including this Barbie mobile.


I was looking forward to the gambling and assumed "Monte Carol" on my plane ticket was a typo. Oh, well.


Hotel Lisboa. Extravagent.


GP in front of the Macau ferry.


Jordan Street - you are welcome, Jordan :)


Most of the HK money is issued by the banks and you'll see the names of the banks. A 20 HKD bill can be 3 or 4 colors depending on who issued it.


The harbor view from our hotel room was great.


I was interested to see so much of an animal hanging there. I saw the entire leg first. Then I saw the tail was still attached. Then I saw the head hanging there, too :p


The taxis in HK are much roomier and cleaner than those in China.


Me in front of Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Excellent lobster, shrimp, and crab.


Do you really think the HK taxi driver is from ISU?

Yeah, I'm one of those 2-week-update bloggers now

And the update is weak!

I'm in Willow Grove, PA as we speak. I had a return ticket for Jan 26 and I thought I might as well use it. I've made it a work / personal trip, so I'm getting my tax info, checking the storage garage, etc. as well as going to meetings (with the CEO and VPs this morning), visiting a supplier and making samples. And working on stuff from 11pm to 4am local time :p I need to stay near china time, though, or the change back is too painful.

I flew into San Francisco Friday morning, took a shower, a short nap and hooked up with the lovely Ms. Becky for some SF sight seeing. Well, mostly we saw fog, rain, and Gordon Biersch brew pub. And then we saw Banana Republic, the Irish Bank and a very good dinner. Saturday we did some breakfast and a little shopping, then off to the airport for me. It was a great time - thanks, Becky!

I've been sorting the Hong Kong photos (finally) and should be posting them to my Yahoo photos spot tonight or tomorrow. Don't expect much of a trip report, though I might drop some favorites into the blog with some explanation. We'll see.

Happy Birthday to Denise!

I'm going to change my blog name to "the Birthday notice" as it seems like the only thing I do anymore :p

Still haven't done the HK photos and Xmas pictures. I have a new excuse though.

Last week I saw a notice posted at my building. It had dates and times (obvious) and said something about water in the title (one of the few Chinese characters I know). I figured if it was important I'd found out.

GP visited Saturday and asked if I knew they were going to shut off the water to my apartment for 7 days. Uh, no. Sunday I get a text message from my housing agent about it. Great, less than 24 hours notice that I'll have no water for a week.

The details are that I can go to a shower in the complex (along with dozens of others) and I can get water for other needs a few times a day from an apartment on the 20th floor. No, thanks. I checked into a cheap hotel near my apartment and will deal with it that way. No flushing from my bathtub full of water :p So far, it's been no difficulty, but I haven't spent much time internetting.

Other complaints? Sure, it's cold and some typical Chinese driver ran into my car last week. As I went home from work, I was in the middle of three lanes. The right lane merged into mine and the driver of a 15-passenger van decided I should move over. I noticed as he came into my lane, so I swerved and honked, much to his surprise. "Why is this guy upset? I need to be in the space he currently occupies. Damned foreigners."

It wasn't until the next day that I noticed he had actually hit me. Shallow dent and scrapes on the front, right quarter panel. Oh, well. The rental insurance covers it. For 2 days this week, I'm riding in the ghetto mobile with primer instead of paint. It'll be shiny in time for the weekend, though :)

The big meeting with the big bosses went surprisingly well. Now I have some good direction and just have to do the tons of work to reach the goal. That's why they pay me the big RMB.

Big "H B" to Daddy Jeff

It's Jeff "FunkPuppy" C's birthday today. Everyone wish him the best. If you don't know him, just send happy vibes towards Baltimore. I'll celebrate here in Suzhou, J. A massage in your honor.

No other update. I've been so busy at work that it makes me lazy at everything else. I did buy a new coat as it's freezin' cold (literally) in Suzhou. That's cold for here, though I remember the real cold of Ames in the winter, trudging to class. I have more insulation now, but the old bones are less forgiving now.

On the positive side, my boss, his boss, and some other bosses are coming for Friday, Monday, Tuesday meetings to bend us all over, in turn and in groups I'd imagine. Doesn't that sound like fun?