So Much for the 8s in My Birthdate

Now in Dalian. Still sick.

Getting here was a hurdle in itself. Instead of arriving in Dalian itself, we got re-routed to Shenyang due to bad weather. We had to go old school and ride a van for four hours to get to Dalian. I asked if Dalian usually gets bad weather and my OMR said no. Hence, I think I'm bad luck.

Sneezy

Son of a gun! I'm sick.

On our way to the hotel from the train station, I said to myself how Guangzhou looks like Manila. Well, that means that the air quality is the same, too. Hence, I'm sick. I've been sneezing since noon today and I feel like crap. Argh! Go away, virus, go away!

Now in Guangzhou

We are now in Guangzhou, China. We got here last night by taking a two-hour train ride from Kowloon to Guangzhou. First impression of China? Ahh, now I feel like I'm in Manila. HeHe!

My last day in Hong Kong was spent hunting down a Hong Kong Starbucks mug. Total number of electronics bought? None! I swear, it's cheaper in the U.S. I also haven't bought anything for the relatives. I'm feeling the time crunch now.

Anyway, free day today. There's a Starbucks downstairs so you know what I'll be doing. HaHa!

Glitz and Glamour

Well, I'm halfway done with my first business trip to Asia. Today was the last day of the tradeshow and I'm beat. I must admit though that it went by fast. The Brussels show kind of dragged like nobody's business.

We ate Chinese food again for dinner. No wonder I'm picking up Mandarin words so quickly: there's so much Chinese in me. Har har har! Seriously though, I'm building up my Mandarin vocabulary quite well.

After dinner, the all-Asian crew traveled by subway to Kowloon. Man, if I knew that you could do that, I wouldn't have risked seasickness yesterday on the Star Ferry. Regardless, I was still dripping with sweat though. Mystery #2: Why don't Asian people sweat?

I only walked around Nathan Road yesterday so the crew took me to the edge of the harbor. Hong Kong Island is so pretty at night! The colorful lights! The awesome architecture! Why can't the Seattle skyline be this awesome?!

Regarding the Asian g@y guy issue: I saw this guy on the subway and if that boy isn't g@y, then my g@ydar is totally screwed up because I swear his attributes were screaming another gender. LoL. I still have yet to ask the asian crew about this topic so this shall be continued later...

Wo ai ni, Hong Kong!

The Tourist Stuff

I swear, I've never eaten so much Chinese food in my life! And no thanks to Panda Express, too! LoL. Gotta love the authentic stuff!

During my two-hour break today, I hopped on the Star Ferry and checked out Kowloon. Now that's the Hong Kong that is in all of the tourist guidebooks! I swear, why can't I calculate in my head, though? I was going to buy some stuff, but I kept on thinking that they're expensive because I can't friggen figure out how much the stuff is in U.S. dollars. Math-handicapped, yes I am. By the time I got back to the hotel, my shirt was pretty much wet with sweat. It's the first day that it didn't rain here since I've been here, but humid days aren't that fun either. At least not for a Seattle-lite who doesn't sweat 365 days a year.

After dinner, the crew, or should I say Asian posse, went up to Victoria Peak (How steep can a mountain get?). Absolutely beautiful view! We got there just before the fog rolled in and covered every single skyscraper on the island. I thought it would be romantic though, but it wasn't. It's like when you go up the Space Needle: you pay to go up, and once you're there, it only takes about 2 minutes until you're done with the view and it's like so anti-climactic.

It's the last full day in Hong Kong tomorrow. Time flies by when you're having fun...and staying at a 5-star hotel. HaHa!