Hong Kong Dancers

If you go anywhere in Central on a Sunday you will no doubt see a lot of women sitting around, shoes off, eating with their friends, playing cards, doing each other's hair, etc... These are Hong Kong's domestic workers, enjoying their day off. They work long hours, 6 days a week, often with cramped living conditions, so when they get a day off, they like to relax with their friends. This past Sunday, we saw a couple of them putting on a little dance that they had obviously rehearsed for a while. We thought it was pretty unique until we turned the corner and saw another group doing the same thing...a new trend, perhaps??

Here's the video we shot:

My Lost Theory

Okay, here is what I think Season 3 will bring:Michael and Walt will succesfully sail away from the island and find rescue, making it back to civilization. Michael, feeling guilty, will try and bring rescue to those left on the island. This will prove quite challenging, however, because no one can "see" the island or find the island. No one will really believe his story. In fact, when he tries to tell them he was on flight 815, he won't be able to prove it, because DHARMA will have his name removed from the list of passengers. Everyone will think he's crazy.But, he won't give up, he'll start tracking down the friends and family of the others on the plane, trying to enlist their help. Maybe he'll be able to tell them things about their loved ones that will prove he knows them. While meeting with these people, he will be able to see the various connections between people that only we have known about. This will somehow lead to the truth about what's really going on.What do you think??

See what the other Lost fanatics think!

Mood=disapointed

I just finished watching the series finale for Alias and must say I am disapointed. I had expected the finale to give me hope that J.J. Abrams would be able to successfully bring Lost to a close and answer all the unanswered questions when it came time for the show to end, which it will eventually have to do.

I'm not saying that the finale was terrible, it had its good points...Sloane's final punishment, not being death, but the eternal life he was trying to attain, but has to spend it trapped inside a tomb. But, let's face it: in Alias world he'd be out of the tomb in 2 episodes, tops. Another cool part was that Sydney's final mission and fight takes place in....Hong Kong!:





I think the building Beth works in might be in this shot, although I don't think our apartment is. I think you might be able to see it in the shot where Sydney is beating the crap out of her mom, or maybe when her mom is being the crap out of her, I'm not sure.

But, other than those 2 highlights, it didn't deliver what I expected it to after 5 years of build-up. Granted, it is not a show like Lost that is based entirely off one unanswerable question: "what the heck is gowing on here?!" Nevertheless, we were expecting it to go out with more of a bang. I mean, you're telling me that Rambaldi's final endgame and what Sloane was searching for was just eternal life? That's it?! That plot has been done a thousand times...I thought it was interesting when they did and episode of Duck Tales about that, but come on, I expected more.

I remember thinking that I would be disapointed if they did something totally unexpected, like making Sydney or Vaughn bad in the end...but that would have almost been better than this!

Lost fans: beware....all this waiting and watching may result in a lame payoff: The plane crashed on a deserted part of Australia, they just needed to go on a hike that was longer than a "day and a half." Maybe if they didn't constantly stop for breaks on their hikes they would have discovered this earlier. What is the Dharma Initiative really about?...doesn't matter, we're safe now!

Mr. Abrams...you have a reputation to protect, don't let us down!

Another joke

"I have a king-sized bed. I don't know any kings, but if one ever needed to sleep over, I guess he'd be comfortable. "Oh, you're a king, you say? Wait until you see what I have in store for you! It is to your exact specifications...I did not know you guys were all the same size. I think I can set your lady up too!" When I was a kid, I used to lie awake in my twin-sized bed wonderin' where my brother was... "

I'm sure those of you who've lived overseas can relate:

Today, like I've had to do a couple times since moving to Hong Kong, I had to call the US to take care of some business. The lady I'm talking to asks for my number to call back in case there are any problems. I tell her it is: "country code 852 and the number is 5555-1234"

She says, confused "Oh, I'm afraid I don't know how to call that kind of number!"

This has happened to me a couple of times already. For some reason, people are instantly confused and afraid of any number that doesn't have the typical (253) 555-1234 pattern. And I'll be the first to admit that I didn't know how to call an international number either before our move to Hong Kong. But, at least I wouldn't have made myself look so dumb by saying that I didn't know how to call it, I would take the number down and do a little internet research and figure it out. It's almost as if I asked her to call me with smoke signals and dialing: 83zY$%& what you don't know how to do that??

So, I tell this lady, well, you first have to enter a number to call an international number from the US. Of course, me being dumb, I didn't remember waht is was.

As a public service annoncement for anyone needing to call internationally from the US, here is how you dial:

011-(country code)-(area code, if applicable)-(phone number)

of course, dialing a 9 first, if needed to get an outside line.

If you think you'll forget, please bookmark this page.

And please also utilize this page, so you don't call me at 3am.

Thank you for your time.

I played soccer with an elephant (Thailand trip report)

It was a tie game, 1-1. She actually kicked the ball pretty hard for a girl.



Afterwards, she and his friend gave me a massage. It was...gross. They kissed me on the face with their trunks. It was smelly!



In Bangkok, Beth was able to find some of the little asian miniatures she's been collecting. Here she is posing with them in the 3 Fat Greeks Restaraunt. Isn't she adorable?


Beth mentioned that she took a cooking class in Koh Samui. But, she didn't mention how good the food was....well, it was great! And that's coming from someone who isn't the biggest Thai food fan, or at least I wasn't a fan until now! The soup was very spicy, but good. Dad, you would have liked it, it makes your scalp sweat just like you like it! :) And while pictures don't do it justice...



One thing that was interesting about our trip is that all flights (except the one leaving Bangkok to Macau) didn't utilize runway ramps. We took little buses that ran from the terminal to the plane.

Hey, when you depart a plane by walking down those stairs, do you ever pretend you're the president, getting out of Air Force One and waving to the crowds?

Oh...neither do I


The airport at Koh Samui is small, really small. Not only do they bus you from the plan to the arrivals terminal, the terminal itself has no walls, it's just a hut. You know how when you go to the baggage claim area to collect your luggage from the carousel? And it's kind of a mystery as to how it got there? Like there must be an extensive system of belts that carry the luggage from the carts that get the luggage out of the plane and then deliver it to your specific carousel?

Well, it's no mystery in this airport! They just take your bags out of the plane, cart them over to the hut and toss them on the belt!


That's all for now!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (well, no planes, but there was a bus)

I'm sure many of you envision Hong Kong as one large, overcrowded metropolis...I know I did. While this is certainly a part of Hong Kong, there are definately rural, less crowded areas, as I found out today.

As you may know, Beth and I were on holiday (that's vacations to you Americans) this past week. As a result, we had to have Zoe stay at a Kennel. Before we left on holiday, we had the kennel pick her up from our apartment, for a small fee. However, they don't offer the delivery service on Sundays which was when we returned and of course wanted to see her again. So, I decided, I would go and pick her up mysef and bring her home.

This involved quite the trek which gave me an idea of just how rural Hong Kong can be:

First, I took the MTR (subway) on the Island line to the Admiralty station, then took the Tseun Wan line to the Yau Ma Tei station, then took the Kwun Tong line to the Diamond hill station. This was the easiest part and only took about 15-20 minutes. For the unfamiliar, here is a map of the MTR routes:



From the Diamond hill station I exited to the bus terminal and took bus 92 to the Sai Kung bus station, which was the end of the line for that bus and took about 30 minutes. Thankfully, during this trek, I had a good book to keep me company. From there, I had to get a taxi to the kennel. The first taxi I asked told me he couldn't go there, and that I needed a green taxi. Aparently this far out, they have red taxis and green taxis, only green taxis can service the local area, I guess. So, I go find the green taxis, the first guy I ask has know idea how to get the address I have written down on a piece of paper. Thankfully, the next guy does, though. Sai Kung is a nice little area, by the way, I made a mental note to visit again.

The green taxi drives maybe 20 minutes or so, going further and further away from civilization, dropping me off at a trail that has a sign for the the Kennel. I get out, pay the fare, and look at the trail, not knowing just how long my trek by foot will be before I reach the kennel.

Thankfully, it is not too far on the trail, which takes me first past another kennel then past some cows, not fenced in mind you, just out there. I'm such a city boy, that I'm not entirely sure whether out not I'm in any danger being so close to the cows. I know there obviously not aggressive animals or cow-tipping would not be such a successful sport. However, I did notice that there was a calf off to the right of the trail and the older cows to the left. I couldn't help but worry that coming in between the calf and it's mother would cause trouble....or wait, is that bears, that you're not supposed to do that with? I pass without trouble, expect the wonderful experience of seeing a cow pee. It's not a tinke or a drizzle, mind you, these cows have exceptional urinary strength, you could put out a fire with that stream!

OK, so I'm at the kennel now, I pick up Zoe and her large heavy crate, by the way, and ask the kennel staff how I can get back to Hong Kong Island. They help me out by calling a taxi for me, which will arrive shortly. Another guy, drives me and Zoe in his van to where we can meet the taxi. We get in the taxi near where the other kennel is. Because the taxi had to drive up the skinny dirt trail, she is having a tough time getting turned around. The guy with the van tries to help her out, shouting various directions. So, we hve Zoe panting because she's thristy, the dogs in the kennel barking bloody murder and this guy yelling at the taxi driver as if we're about to drive off a cliff if she makes the slighest wrong move. Eventually, we make it out. Oh, wait, did I mention this was a green taxi? Of course, it was, so it can't take me back home. And, in case you're wondering, I have to take a taxi back home, because Zoe can't go on the bus or the subway.

So, she drives me to a red taxi which we transfer to and that taxi is finally able to take us home.

The cost of the do-it-yourself method of dog retrieval?:

MTR trips: HK$9.80
Bus trip: HK$5.50
Taxi ride to kennel: HK$38.90
Green taxi ride back from kennel: HK$70
Red taxi ride back to apartment: HK$200

Total cost? HK$324.20 ($41.83 USD)

The cost of having Zoe stay another day and have her delivered on Monday? HK$260 ($33.55 USD).

The cost of having your dog that you missed back early AND have an interesting story to tell? Priceless.

2 jokes for the price of one

"I get the Reese's candy bar. If you read that name 'Reese's', that's an apostrophe S. Reese's apostrophe S at the end of that name. That means the candy bar is his. I didn't know that. Next time you're eating a Reese's candy bar and a guy name Reese comes by and says, 'Let me have that,' you better hand it over. 'I'm sorry, Reese. I didn't think I'd ever run into you. You're a bully, man. Let me at least have a piece.'"

"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down."

-Mitch Hedberg