chaos EXPOSED

July 4th & 5th

It took 30 hours of traveling from the front door of my Park Ave apartment to the front steps of Intercontinental Hotel on Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong.  What would have been a 12 hour flight from SF to Hong Kong, took 30, beginning in New York - 2 hour flight to Chicago - 2 hour layover - 13 hour flight to Shanghai - 1 hour layover - 2 hour flight to Hong Kong, with a 1 hour delay.

However, I have to say I am extremely pleased with this recent travel experience to Asia, despite the number of stops I had to undertake.  I had 2 seats on my flight to Chicago and THREE empty seats on my way to Shanghai (per my request).  Ergo, I was able to sleep on both flights for extended periods of time helping me to completely combat jet lag on the flight! The flight into Shanghai arrived early as well so I caught an earlier flight to Hong Kong! If I wasn't so lucky, it would have taken me over 30 hours to chase the sun halfway around the world!

What's funny too was that I ran into another student ambassador on my flight to Shanghai! As a non-Asian guy speaking pretty solid Chinese on the phone, I was really impressed and approached him commending his Chinese pronunciation.  I asked what he was doing in Shanghai and he explained he was working for the USA pavilion.  Err...that's where I'm working! Then he asked..."Are you Cassie"? Whoa! We finally established that we already knew each other on Facebook.  What a small world. Seriously.

Can I also express my amazement with the service of Dragonair/Cathay Pacific from Shanghai to Hong Kong? On a 2 hour flight, I was served Linguine & fish for dinner, with Haagen-Dazs for dessert...What's wrong with America?? Why is it that I have to pay for chips on a 5 hour flight in the States, but am served pasta on a 2 hour flight in China? Also they passed out pillows and blankets, something I only expected on long international flights. How will I ever be able to enjoy a domestic flight in the US again? I can't. Even business class is not up to par.

July 6
After losing 2 days of my life due to travel and time zones, I started my day bright and early at 8 am. Most of the morning was spent trying to find breakfast. Apparently where I'm staying - in Tsim Sha Tsui, a very popular shopping area, has limited breakfast selections.  Starbucks opens at noon... interesting, and most other restaurants opened at 10 or 11. We finally found a dim sum place and spent a good hour and a half relaxing in the AC and chowing down.


We crossed the harbor to Central [area] on Hong Kong island. I had plans at noon to visit a friend of a friend, who is a foreign service officer at the US consulate. However with time to kill and a heat wave in China, with highs of 105 degrees, we had to hop in and out of coffee shops to survive the temperature. We first visited the Bank of China tower and went up to the 43rd floor observatory, for free! (Thanks Alison for the tip.) Got some great views of Kowloon. We hung around different coffee shops for a couple hours before stopping off at the US consulate.


I had lunch with a few Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) and they discussed their jobs, the FSO test, the language tests, and the Peace Corps! The returned Peace Corps volunteers encouraged me to volunteer in Africa, given the my previous French language study - and broadened my perspective of volunteering in Cameroon, Morocco, etc.  I was supposed to meet the Consular Chief as he was interested in meeting me to talk about the Peace Corps Master's International, a program that he had completed years ago. Unfortunately, he was out of the office, but my friend messaged me that he wants me to call him and gave me his number! Nice. :)

After a tour of the consulate and a debrief of her duties, my friend needed to rush back to her FSO duties! I met up with my family and we headed up Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram. The incline of the tram is unbelievable! We were slowly inching up the mountain at a 45 degree incline! I was terrified of the cable snapping, considering the tram is over 100 years old! After reaching the top of the peak, I was disappointed with the commercial aspect of the "Sky Terrace" building.  Rather than allowing people to photograph the views of harbor, the building was filled with souvenir stalls and random electronic goods, blocking off the views of below. I was able to snap some photos while on the escalators though! Hah!

With the heat and humidity weighing us down, my family decided to rest all afternoon and save our energy for the night market. My review of the night market (Temple street) - I was expecting something similar to that of Taiwan's night markets... It is true, nothing can compare to Taiwan's night markets.  Period.

So far, no plans for tomorrow. It's too hot outside! 2 more days in Hong Kong then off to Yunnan!