An American Girl in Hong Kong

Well, I'm here...not even tired really, even though it's nearly 11PM and I've been up quite a while.

The plane ride was surprisingly easy for a 15 hour jaunt. I watched movies for 8 hours (thumbs up to "In the Shadow of the Moon" and "Resurrecting the Champ," thumbs down for "The Nanny Diaries", also watched "3:10 to Yuma" which was probably good, but I don't like either Westerns or Russell Crowe), slept 5 hours, and the last couple hours were a breeze.

I love Hong Kong so far from what I've seen of it. Clean, gorgeous (tons of neon and lights but more of an air of sophistication and civilization than, say, Vegas...) and nice and warm after dealing with 0 degrees in Chicago last week. It's about 68 here, a little humid, but kind of like a really pleasant summer night.

Everyone seems to speak English here, except, inexplicably, the cab driver, who had no idea of what "Renaissance Kowloon" meant, even when we told him the street name and showed it to him on a map.

I have to say, if you have the means, travel on an expense account if at all possible. Business class made the flight tolerable, and this room...very nice. We got suites on the club level, meaning lots of room and free drinks. My room overlooks a large neon sign that, on last glance, said something in Chinese, and for the last few minutes has said SINOPEC. Brian got the room overlooking the harbor, which is a much better view. We took a quick walk down by the harbor, which is made up to look like a Chinese version of Hollywood Boulevard, with stars and handprints of all the famous Chinese actors. Jackie Chan's was the only one I recognized.

So is it wrong that the theme song for "Hong Kong Phooey" has been going through my head ever since we started making our descent?

No food adventures yet...grabbed some sushi at a grocery store adjacent to our hotel. Surprisingly, not very good. Brian got some duty-free liquor on the way here so we had a few 7 and 7s to try to make getting to sleep easier, but frankly I'm wired and don't feel much like sleeping.

Tomorrow it's a bit of sightseeing and shopping in Hong Kong, followed by a train ride and the border crossing into China.