Back from Beijing

back from beijing, no time to write. great wall was amazing

So here I am in Hong Kong. Boy is it ever fucking hot and humid.
The plane trip was another air Canada fiasco. I was supposed to fly direct over Alaska, but the plane broke down so they put us on another and then we had to stop over in Vancouver. Added another 5 hours to the trip. The food was atrocious. It was so bad that I resorted to drinking beer and clamato for food.

I've got lots of amusing pictures, but no way to get them out of my camera. I'm writing this at my uncle's place. Hopefully I'll find an internet cafe soon.

I'm staying in the New Territories, near Tai Wo train station. Its the Hong Kong equivalent of missisauga. middle of bumfuck nowhere. Actually, its pretty busy here too. There are people like you wouldn't believe and everyone talks really fucking loud about nothing at all. Only a slight change from Toronto. I've done lots of sight seeing, went to Cheng Chou islands and watched a parade for this bun festival. I got interviewed for TV but didn't really understand what the hell was going on. Story of my life. The parade was actually a lot of fun. Somehow i managed to scam a front row spot. They have these floats with sort of suspended kids. It looks like the little kid on the bottom is holding up another kid on the top with a fan or tennis racket of something. Of course there's a metal frame built into it all but its rather ingenious. Chinese kids are the cutest in the world. Then they grow up without exercise and medical care and end up short and ugly. Actually, people seem to have grown a bit since last came here 7 years ago. Am not the tallest person around anymore.

Hong Kong is very hilly, it would be incredibly beautiful and lush if there weren't a million appts and office buildings all over the place. The transit system is incredible and people are in general much more efficient.

I did a bit of shopping for clothes. Stuff is ridiculously cheap here. You can go to outlet stores and buy all the name brands for next to nothing. They're not even knock offs. They just cut the tags. Of course there's knock offs galore. You just look in the catalog for whatever Gucci/l.v handbag or whatever and then some guy brings it in from the back alley. Shopping is so cheap and crazy that even i like it. The food is also pretty cheap, and generally cooked hot and fresh. Eating and shopping are the great Hong Kong past times. This is definitely the land of conspicuous consumption.

tomorrow i go to Beijing. I can't wait.

So tommorrow morning I am off to the motherland. I can' t wait and am excited as hell. Its the longest trip i've ever taken, two whole months and one little suitcase. I hope to hell that i don't end up sitting next to some obnoxious smelly guy on the plane. I think I've had enough of smelly people.

Flying is fine, its just so damn stuffy inside. Recycled air from a hundred people. Terrible food. I wish they'd give you the whole damn can instead of these flimsy plastic cups that invariably end up tipping over onto somebody's lap making the entire trip miserable for one poor sod. I guess I've been lucky enough to fly to lots of places so I've got a routine.
-Show up only an hour or so ahead of time. You will get to bypass the line, especially if it is long. If you show up early you just end up having to wait forever with screaming brats anyway.
-Bring/buy something to read. As long as its not a library book or one that you've borrowed. I think I lost Locke library's copy of B.I.G to the gap between the seat and the wall somewhere over the gulf of mexico.
-Sleep. The trick to doing this is to be massively hung over. Then nothing will really matter, so long as you want to pass out into oblivion. I once had a rather large party at my place but still managed to kick everyone out in the moring, do laundry, clean up and get on a plane to portugal while still intoxicated from the previous night.
-Drink lots on the plane. This also works. Makes everything go much much more easily.
-Smile and feign ignorance at all customs people. Works like a frickin charm even on usually scowly female agents. Even if by some lottery they decide to search your stuff, it will be quick and cursory. Sometimes they even fill out the undecipherable forms for you.

Also of interest Barf Bag Collection

hello world

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