HONG KONG is like...

What a supercity. It's like someone took the ingredients of other cities, and masterfully assembled them into what is now Hong Kong. Hong Kong has:

• The finance and banking of New York
• Mountainous scenery of Vancouver
• Tropical flair of Miami beach

I've stayed in SO MANY HOTELS over the past few days...

I've been to so many hotels over the past few days that I can't remember what my current room number is!! I feel bad for the poor folks who are on the elevator with me. I thought my room number was 710, but then I realized that maybe it was room 504. Now I think it might actually be room 805. But I've already pressed buttons for the 7th floor and the 5th floor. I think I'll just wait till everyone gets off the elevator...

NO WONDER THEY HAD SARS

I'm on Air China flight CA101 Beijing to Hong Kong: There's this guy across the aisle from me picking his nose like mad, all while reading a newspaper. A Chinese-American friend of mine warned me that old Chinese men lack good personal hygiene here in China, but I wasn't expecting this! JEEZUZ! His index finger has totally disappeared into his nose! Is he trying to scratch the inside of his brain? What the hell is he digging for? HOLY crap! The lady next to him doesn't seem to give a shit that he's sprinkling his boogers right on the empty seat between the two of them. WHOA! I thought he was done. Now he's about to renovate the other nostril. Man, what the hell is up there? Now I'm curious to see what he actually digs out. Thank GOD he's across the aisle from me... But this makes me wonder what boogers were sprinkled on the seat that I'm in now... ewwww

ASIANS & THEIR LABELS

It's quite comical to see these Asians with all their luggage, wallets, bags, and clothing blatantly sporting so many labels, logos, and emblems. Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Bally. I'm sure that these labels help to instill a sense of otherwise absent self-confidence and pride in these people. But after seeing the massive quantities of those emblems in the flea markets of Shanghai, the brand equity seems so much more deflated. The prestige associated with sporting those emblems seems to be a bit diluted.

05/06/2005 For the nth time, i'm wondering what the hell I'm doing going to china. It's been a while since I've been to a country where I didn't speak or understand the language. And unlike other foreign countries I've been to, it's not like I could even pronounce something by reading it. I'm actually concerned about how i'll be able to find my way around. Now, as we are about to land, there's an anxiety that I haven't felt in a very long time. I've been to morocco, prague, vienna, Bosnia, Croatia, and I've managed to get around. Though in those places, I've at least studied one of the languages spoken there or at least learning how to pronounce their alphabet, and then deciphering signage by their cognates... but CHINA? I have a tough enough time getting around in New york's Chinatown. Now, I'm going to a place where there are a BILLION of them. Lord help me. I might as well have traveled to another planet. I should be grateful though. It's good to know that there are still places on this planet where a westerner can go to be thoroughly disoriented. If this place is as enchanting as the tourbook makes it out to be, I wonder why there are so many chinese who have left. We are now at an altitude of 5000 feet, and about to descend upon Shanghai. I'm wondering what it will be like to set foot upon Chinese soil. Will it be any different? Will I weigh the same?