Hong Kong

Well I got a lot of responses about the guy I wrote about in the first update.  For the record, he really was just a random guy I met on the airplane, he was not really hot, and when he left that morning, that was it.  In fact, here is the string of emails we exchanged yesterday... Just so everyone will quit freaking out!

From:  <Geoffrey.Maron@ic.fbi.gov> SEE, HE REALLY IS IN THE FBI!
To: TK (I'm removing contact info for the blog...)
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 22:41:30 -0400
Subject: So...

>I guess if you get this then my phone is at least working sometimes. This is the email address >that goes to my blackberry. It'd be fun if we could meet up after you are done with work and I >am done wandering.


From: TK
To: FBI guy
Sent: Sun Oct 07 22:46:26 2007
Subject: RE: So

>Got it!! I guess your phone is working! I'll try and give you a call when we are done working, >but who knows if my phone will work -- or if yours will!!  Guess we could always communicate >by email...at least we know that is working! Have fun wandering...hope you see some cool >stuff! :)


From: FBI guy
To: TK
Subject: Re: So
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 22:45:28 -0400
>You have fun trying not to fall asleep at work.
>Talk to you later.


From: TK
To: FBI guy
Sent: Mon Oct 08 06:51:57 2007
Subject: Re: So


>So I haven't figured out yet how to make calls to US numbers...sorry!! Amy and I are going to >eat dinner here in about 30 minutes...somewhere walking distance from the office so I don't >have to deal with getting lost. You are more than welcome to join us if you want to make the >trek back down this way again! Let me know...


From: FBI guy
To: TK
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 08:15:40
Subject: Re: So


My phone makes calls to us numbers without doing anything special. I call them right out of the phonebook. Maybe yours works the same.
Sorry, but I'm going to have to leave you two to dine without me. I just had a nice bowl of gumbo at the hotel here. My room does not smell like paint, but it isn't huge. The city was good to wander in. There are some great monkeys at the botanical gardens. And the train is a great way to get to the airport. How was work?


From: TK
To: FBI guy
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 09:37:42
Subject: Re: So


Glad you had a good time in HK!! Work was okay...I didn't last all day. I took a nap this afternoon, showered and went back around 4:30. We had dinner at a nice french restaurant and did some shopping! Guess what my first purchase was?! A watch...of course! :) Just got up to my room and am exhausted!! I think I'm going to sleep good tonight (minus the paint smell).


Glad I met you and thanks for helping get around HK! Good luck in Jakarta (is that even how you spell it??)  :)
-T
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
________________________________________

That is IT.  He's gone...MOVING ON :)


More from Hong Kong...


Times Square - or Hong Kong in general - is NUTS at night!  I've never seen so many Asians in my life!!  It's so funny at intersections.  They all "Q up" and then when the green 'walk' signal shows up it's like a mad dash for the other side of the street! 

Amy and I had dinner at a nice little French restaurant last night (I thought we were going to an Italian place, but that changed).  It was okay food - we had mussels for an appetizer (not a fan of that), baked lamb chops and salad, and an apple tart with caramel ice cream for desert (my fave!)  Right after we sat down, two girls walked in and all the waitors started rushing around and catering to them.  Amy was all excited and said they were "local celebrities" from a soap opera.  They looked pretty normal to me, but apparently they were a big deal.


After dinner we hit the town for some shopping.  The weather was great...still surprising warm at night but not near as humid.  This city is SO crazy - even at night.  It really reminds me of Times Square in NYC except all Asians - I think I already said that in my last email, but it's true!  We went down little allies and into these street vendors where it was just elbow-to-elbow racks of jewelry, bags, shoes, and clothes...all really cheap.  It was SO cool...but of course no on spoke English. 

Then we walked to some other stores up off the streets that were a little nicer.  My first purchase in Hong Kong:  a watch OF COURSE!  Amy negotiated for me...got a $120 watch for $48 USD!  I was SO excited!!  Bought some other gifts there and then we headed back for the night.  About half way back, Amy stopped and said, "the train station is right there...so you can find your own way back, right?"  I think my jaw dropped to the ground and Amy started cracking up...of course she was just kidding but I really thought she was going to leave me in the middle of Hong Kong by myself at night.  She walked me back to Times Square and took off on the train and I went back to my hotel.  In the elevator, there was a guy...really short of course...who didn't say a word...just stared at me and looked me up and down like I was from some other freaking planet - and I stared right back like "what's your deal??".  He seriously came up to my shoulders...haha...I love being tall over here! :)  It is pretty weird though...being taller than everyone and having people give me weird looks all the time...Amy says I'm just being self-conscious but I really do think they everyone looks at me weird!! Anyways -- up to my room and off to bed...


After waking up about every hour, I finally decided to just get up and get some breakfast at my hotel and had in to work early.  In the "lift" (that's what they call elevators over here) there was a nice old man who had his free breakfast coupon on his hand, too.  So we started small talking and he ended up sitting at the table next to me at breakfast.  He lives in LA but his company does business over here.  He reassured me that I would be fine in Vietnam by myself and told me what to watch out for, etc.  He also told me what to see in Beijing, etc.  After breakfast it was back to the office... 


The weather was great this morning...it finally cleared up and wasn't quite as hot and humid as yesterday.  When I got off the airplane yesterday, it was gray and cloudy and so humid you just instantly started sweating the minute you walked outside...today was much better...so I took some more pictures of the office and the views from here.  It really is pretty great to work here!

So you know how they drive on the other side of the road over here?  Well the escalators are on the opposite side, too...you have NO idea how many times I've tried to walk UP the DOWN escalator...and how many times I've looked the wrong way for cars coming and walked out in the street...only to almost be hit by the 20 million taxis all over...really pisses me off every time!  I'll figure it out one of these days...probably about the time I head back to the states...


Oh yea - back it up - I was on my way to the office and decided I wanted a bottle of water (you can't drink the tap water over here and I didn't have any water in my office).  So I see a little street vendor and grab a bottle of water and put it up on the counter.  OF COURSE no English.  She looked a little hurried/irritated and just pointed to the numbers on the cash register...6.30 HKD.  So I start fumbling through my wallet looking for my American Express card...and she sees what I'm going for and start waving her hand in front of me.  "No no no...no American!"  She grabbed my wallet and pulled a 20 HKD bill out (you could see the cash sitting there), threw some change down and pushed my water towards me.  At that point, the guy behind me, obviously irritated that I have no idea what I'm doing, slaps his stuff down right in front of mine and whips out some cash.  I'm thinking WOW...did that really just happen...I just started laughing and walked off...I have no idea if she gave me the right change, but at that point, I didn't really care.  Is it that obvious that I am dumb American??  Haha... I guess so...


I got up to the office and worked for a little bit.  When Amy got in, I told her I needed an adaptor to plug in my US stuff in the HK plus in the hotel room.  So down we go...Amy takes off running across the crazy streets in her high heels and I'm just trying to keep up in my flip flops...having NO idea where I'm at or where we are goin.  She heads right to this little hole-in-the-wall street vendor and starts talking away.  They pull out a little piece of plastic and Amy looks at me.  So I say, "do they take American Express".  Amy, without cracking a smile, says, "Terri, do they LOOK like they take American Express??"  Okay -- I guess not...it was just an old man and woman on the street who didn't even have a cash register.  We had a good laugh about that one...


After working through the morning, we went out for lunch to a restaurant that had real Chinese food from Shanghai.  REAL Chinese food isn't anything like American Chinese food.  It was all pretty good...but I am SO over eating with chopsticks.  How are you supposed to keep rice on two little sticks?!  SO frustratang...but I'm learning.  After lunch we went out for some Gelato (Italian ice cream) and then we went back to the office.  My body still hasn't quite adjusted to the time difference, so about 2 in the afternoon, my body is feeling like its 1am and just shuts down.  I took a nap for a couple of hours at the hotel and then came back to work...and am still here now.  I am on my own for dinner tonight!  Amy had to leave the office early, so I'm going to head out on the town to see what I can find to eat...should be interesting!  Then it's back to the office for a conference call at 9:30pm...good thing I had a nap today!


Well that's it for now...I leave tomorrow afternoon for Beijing.  I tried to get on Amy's flight but it's all booked.  That means another exciting travel experience by myself...to a place where they really don't speak English...I'm sure I'll have some more entertaining stories for you all tomorrow! :)




-TK