Golf!

I missed the first day of golf while recovering. I had three days of golf after that at Mission Hills, the largest golf complex in the world, straddling Shenzhen and Dongguan. 12 18-hole golf courses, multiple clubhouses, shops, restaurants, practice areas, etc., make this the Mecca of golf. We played the "World Cup" course, the Greg Norman course, and the Pete Dye course. Duan and I got 1 caddy each for every course. The caddies were helpful, bringing/cleaning clubs, lining up putts, finding balls in the rough, raking bunkers.

The courses were meticulously maintained. The greens rolled true and there were no bad spots on any fairway. I was playing with a set of chintzy counterfeit clubs. After some adjustment I was able to use the driver. I hit the irons better than my own irons I have back home. (I have to demo some irons when I return). There were no hybrids, and I could not hit the whippy fairway woods - and quickly stopped trying.



The courses were tough, I didn't score well overall, but I had some great holes and some great shots and really enjoyed myself. The Norman course is considered to be the hardest of all 12, and on the #1 handicap hole, I made par. That was great! The shot of the week belonged to Duan who holed out from a sand trap at 70 yards on the 18th hole of the World Cup course. Amazing!

Yesterday we went DVD shopping (I got a couple of CDs, Duan and friends bought pounds and pounds of DVDs). Today we are going to a notebook computer motherboard repair facility and then to a special kind of restaurant. I will take pictures of the food, for sure. I am back to feeling 100% (thankfully).

Let the eating begin...

Duan is here - and he's a food guy. We kicked it off with some BBQ - pork and goose:



Later, for dinner, we went to a fancy place and had a steamed fish, some boiled live prawns, a strange and interesting vegetable like a pea shoot, and some somewhat generic yet tasty chicken. That was great.

My bed was hard like cement so I switched to a room with a soft (western) bed. I got a better view in the deal, too.

Yesterday I checked out a little more of the hotel. I wanted to find the gym and along the way there was a spa, a ping pong room, a snooker room, a card and chess roon, and finally the gym. Each room along the hallway was manned by an employee and it felt a little like "Kung Fu Master" where I had to defeat the bad guy on each level to move forward. I will try and videotape the experience today.

Today we go to a few companies - business, finally.

+1

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is a great place - for an airport. They have wonderful food at good prices and have a pay-in 'lounge' that has a buffet, free neck and shoulder massage, shower, etc. Of course, if you sit around the arrival lounge waiting 3 hours for someone who wasn't even on the plane you don't get any of that luxury.

Duan emailed that he was going to arrive on the 13th. The thing is...he took off from Zurich on the 13th at 11:20pm. His itinerary prepared by his travel agent showed an arrival time without a date, and without the +1 that the civilized world adds. We all got confused and went to meet him last night...finally after hours we threw in the towel and went to Shenzhen without him. I confirmed with his office in San Jose what happened. No biggie, I will have to find something to do today. I think shopping is the most likely event.

The hotel is built around a lake and recreational preserve. It's got a country feel to it:



The theme to the hotel is "Experience the passion of elegance." The mattress is like a cement slab. I got bug bites around my ankles. The place LOOKS great. I am meeting my Shenzhen hosts for breakfast soon where I will update them on the Duan saga.

Crossing the border by car was a breeze - much faster than the walk-across at Lo Wu that I did the last time. I will take lots of SZ pictures today, just like a real tourist.

Yo noy soy marinero...soy capitan!

I got dragged to Ocean Park (something like SeaWorld) in HK yesterday.

Asia can be funny. For the pre-show entertainment they had a band claiming to be from Mexico playing Mexican songs. They were pretty easily identifiable as Filipino, though. Anyway, what's with "Tequila!" for a water show in Hong Kong?



I love kettle corn and the other kinds of things you get at American festivals and fairs and amusement parks. I wasn't so thrilled with this food booth - Mr. Squid:



I did a lot of walking in order to try and keep my weight gain down. Here are the charming double-decker Hong Kong streetcars:



I stopped by a bookstore to get a guide to Shenzen, then, when looking for a dinner spot, ran across this odd store:



The W has been a great hotel, and they offered me a 4pm checkout today - great! I will be off to the airport to meet up with Duan and we'll take a car to Shenzhen.

Note: I use a bowflex at home. I worked out with weights yesterday at the hotel gym. Today I am really sore and feel as if I got a much more thorough workout. Hmm.

Jet Lag 1, Serge 0

The day started off well. The hotel shower is well-designed and gave me ideas for my next remodel - wherever and whenever that is. The weather is nice (hot, not too humid), so I started off with a walk. I picked up some golf gloves and had lunch. By the way, boneless chicken wings are a great invention. I was feeling a little groggy and thought it better to not hit golf balls - there's no reason to practice poor swings. I swung back around to the hotel after the walk and headed out to get a GSM phone (my Sprint Treo won't take the SIM cards here or in China). I got a basic phone for about $60 and got some prepaid credit for it as well. The number is +852 9621 3058 should anyone want to SMS me! I am having a little trouble recharging it and may have to switch the #, but for now, it's good.

I did some more walking and made plans to head out later in the evening for bowling and general merrymaking - after a short nap. Well, I grabbed a light dinner and started the nap at 6:00pm. I slept right through the alarm and phone calls and woke up at 3:00am. Oops. I am going to head to the gym and pool if they are open at 5:00am and at least get some exercise.

Sunday (today) will be a dim sum brunch followed by more walking. I will take a hike if I can.

Hong Kong, Day 1

My flight from SFO was uneventful. There was a headwind that added over an hour to the flight time, so I got in a little late. I didn't check any baggage, breezed through immigration and customs, bought my train ticket with cash I had leftover from the last trip, and got to the W Hong Kong in Kowloon around 8:00pm. Nice hotel . Friday night it was littered with models. There were tons of photographers with "Press" stickers on their jackets. I asked the check-in clerk what the special event was there that would attract all the models and papparazzi and she said "Friday night."

I cleaned up quickly (nice room, btw)...

...and caught a cab to Lan Kwai Fong (party central) to meet up with some friends. I found Rob and Austin, but Evan and Leo were missing. No big deal, they have my phone number and they can find me. Rob and Austin and I head out and have a Thai dinner and a few beers. Leo calls - he found Evan - and we head out to meet them at a bar called "Lux"



When we got there, Leo had already ordered up some Long Islands - super! Leo had some of his HK/SZ crew with him that I met the last time I was there - Adam and Will. There were also about a half-dozen other Leo faithful that I hadn't met, so the crew was getting some critical mass. A round of Manhattans came next, followed by something called a "Flaming Lambourghini." Right about that time, we decided to head to another spot, called "Pi". This next place had a line and some kind of selective entry policy, but one of Leo's crew (Kat) had an in, so through the rope and up the elevator we went.



This place was loud and trendy and it was fun. It's a dance spot, but really too crowded to dance. I hadn't been in a club like that since the 80s. Feeling wide awake and in a mood to celebrate, I had a vokda soda. We hung around at Pi for a while, and then it got late (2:30am or so) and Rob and Austin and I decided to get a snack and call it a night. We went to a kebab place and I had some curry. We were discussing where to catch a cab and then Leo, Evan, and Adam came by - surprised to find us still in LKF. We all got into the cab discussion and then Austin and Rob took off and I was going to take a cab with Leo and Evan. But first, they (and Adam) wanted....a snack! OK, 3:30 now, or so, and we head to a fast food kind of spot where they get pizza and poutine. I had a 1664 beer. I hope you're not counting! I felt fine. We finally break at around 4:00am. Evan comes back with me as he's crashing at my place the first night (he's in town from Chongqing, his girlfriend arrives tomorrow - err, today).

Today I am going to hit some golf balls, get a local prepaid SIM card for my cell phone, the join up with Leo, his gf, and Evan's gf for some bowling. Evan will be in Macao in a poker tournament. I thought about going there instead of bowling and actually might. It'll be a game-time decision.

I feel pretty good, it's 10am, I got a little bit of sleep. We'll see if the jetlag kicks in. So far, a great start to the trip!

Hong Kong and Shenzhen - Here I Come!

Leaving Thursday for two weeks - this will be a long overdue business trip. I'll try to enjoy myself in the off-hours. I'll do better with posting pictures, too. I am starting to pack...tonight!