Los Angeles and Hong Kong

I pulled an all-nighter getting ready for my morning flight from SFO to LAX. All packed, I drove to the Pleasant Hill BART station for a 5:47am train. I now fly out of SFO instead of Oakland if I can - the BART setup is just too convenient, and it gives me time to relax instead of panic. I drove my truck to the BART station and parked it there. My friend Cliff is going to drive it back to my house (I left a spare set of keys). That's awesome! The train was mercifully empty and I was able to get a seat and keep my luggage close to me. Checking in at Alaska was also a breeze, with nobody else in line. I enjoyed a trip to LAX and got in around 9:30am. Hmm. My next flight did not take off until midnight, so I had some time to kill. I rented a Dodge Neon on the Internet for the day and when I went to pick it up, all they had to offer me was a Chrysler Pacifica. It's a coool modern minivan with navigation GPS. Woohoo! I drove down to Irvine and had lunch with my friend Tony. I noticed that most of the students at UCI (where he works) are Asian, and he confirmed that. The UC system are such hypocrites. They first wanted to "increase diversity" and then decided to have a "merit only" system for admission. Unfortunate, they were busted (at Berkeley) for denying admission to qualified Asian students because they felt the student body was getting "too Asian." WTF? They appointed a CHinese chancellor right after that story broke, and, since then, it seems like it's as close to a merit system as it has ever been. Which is great. UC can be 100% Asian so long as they are the top 100% of the applicants. Why people fiddle around with this stuff amazes me.

Sorry, off on a tangent there! After Irvine I went to Culver City and did a little shopping. A pair of pants and a light jacket for Hong Kong. I got a belt, too, since I left mine at the security checkpoint in SFO. Whoops! I had dinner with my sister and her family and that was nice. Later, my friend Eric met me at the airport and we had a drink before I caught the Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong.

Now, there is something interesting about a flight that leaves LA at midnight and arrives at Hong Kong at 7 in the morning. It's dark outside the whole time. 15 hours of flying at night. What that means is there's no real food service. The usual pampering you get in International business class was replaced with a dark cabin and lots of sleep. I got my share of sleep in and also watched a few movies. I saw a documentary on Death Row records that was really interesting. Another BBC documentary on "dowry crimes" in India was gut-wrenching. Meh, what a world we live in!

Hong Kong Immigration was a breeze, although an officer directed me to take my hat off. Security risk or just demanding respect? Either way, I complied. New country, new rules. Doesn't bother me! Customs was a walk-though, as casual and under-staffed as Amsterdam.

Hong Kong is a very cool looking place. Mountains and high rises and water all smashed together. The streets are narrow and jam-packed with everything. You cannot throw a rock and not hit a restaurant in all the places I saw as the shuttle bus drove me to my hotel.

Oh, that's another thing. Getting to my hotel was fast, easy, and cheap. $11USD train ride from the airport to Kowloon station, then a free shuttle to my hotel. Great! I hope the rest of Hong Kong is that efficient!!! I am going to take a shower and then venture outside. I want to find an ATM, take some pictures, orient myself, get a transit pass, and possibly a bit to eat.



It's a bit overcast, and my window is a bit schmutzy. I am going to get out and take some more pictures and post them. My friend Jeremy will get here from Shanghai around 7pm, and he will head out for dinner, exploration, and drinking. I am so happy to have a friend here! I hate traveling alone. I don't think I will do it any longer. The hotel room is small, for sure, but clean and modern. I've got all the plugs and transformers necessary to charge up my gear and my phone seems to be SMSing just fine here. Ok, time to shower and explore.