Monday, March 1, 2010, Hong Kong

We are finishing up our adventure in Hong Kong. Since we arrived, the weather has been characterized by moderate temps (mid 70's) and fog, quite a contrast to when we started in Singapore. In fact, the fog has gotten thicker since we arived on Saturday. Our hotel is right off Victoria Harbor in Kowloom, just north of Hong Kong Is. We've enjoyed taking a cable car up to the Big Buddah on Lantau Is, which was shrouded in fog - which made photographing it difficult. The cable car ride was terrifying, however, at least to me. It went on for endless kilometers up over a couple mountains. After we got there and photoed the foggy Buddah, we had to return to the bottom! We've maneuvered the MTR (subway system) expertly, with Jeff Marston just about taking the lead. Stanley market was amazing, and we picked up several Christmas presents there and a coupe cool dragon boxer underware shorts for me. Our Asian meals have been memorable, except that I have no idea what I have been eating most of the time. They don't have chop sui in Hong Kong as it turns out. At least I couldn't find it anywhere on the menu. We spent quite some time in the Hong Kong History Museum today. One could spend days there, tracing the areas's history from the beginning through the return to The Peoples Republic of China. The Brits really but the Chinese through the ringer as they did the Americans back in the 1800's. We leave Asia tomorrow on Japan Air Lines to Tokyo, then to Kennedy Airport. Total journey should take 24 hours with stop overs, but NY is 13 hours earlier than Hong Kong, so it shouldn't seem to take so long.....well, at least I am hopeful of that. I am returning with more than 500 pictures I've taken, and I know you all can't wait to see them all! -- H. Clay McEldowney Hong Kong March 1, 2010 About 6 PM local time