Hong Kong

After a 10 hour flight (and 11 episodes of Prison Break) I was in Hong Kong. Jordan picked me up at the Express Train Terminal, and after a quick shower, we started to explore the city. One of the first things we did was ride the largest escalator in the world. It was super cool. We then went for dumplings. Totally cool. Eric (friend living in Korea) got to Hong Kong that afternoon. That night we had super awesome Chinese food - as well more dumplings. Can you tell that I like dumplings? That night we walked around Jordan's hood. Hong Kong at night. Kowloon. A very strange sign. I don't think I am going to swim in the harbour. And an even stranger sign. I was shocked that they have San Miguel beer and more shocked that they proudly advertise it. I wonder if they have tried the Am Sam verison. The five of us.Adam & Jordan's building. They have a pug - Bimbom. Really cute and she loved to lay in my suitcase. Adam and Jordan had to work on Friday, so Eric and I went to Macau. Macau like Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region, but instead of the British the Portuguese gave it back a couple of years ago. It was a quick hour ferry ride from Hong Kong, but required an immigration process - another stamp for the passport. We ate at Fernando's on the southern most island - great Portuguese food. We then walked around downtown Macau visiting the Sao Paulo church, or at least what is left of it.We also went to the Macau Tower. It was a little cloudy, but still neat views. We could have bungy jumped off the Tower - I decided to pass - I'll stick with jumping off bridges. Next we went to gamble. Macau is the Asian Las Vegas - and actually surpassed Vegas in terms of gambling revenue. I bet the Communist love that fact. We had no idea what we were doing, so we lost $600 Hong Kong dollars in about 20 minutes at the blackjack table. I was just happy the dealer didn't laugh at us. Jordan had to work on Saturday. What!?! He is a therapist, so he has some weird hours. Adam, Eric and I went to Lantau Island to see the tallest outdoor seated bronze buddha.Not to be confused with the tallest indoor seated bronze buddha. Or the tallest indoor seated wooden buddha (which is in Japan). It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, the gondola was broken - one of the gondola cabins fell off earlier in the week. oops. So we took a ferry then a bus, on a very winding road. yikes. The bus driver was definitely going over the 20 mph Samoan speed limit. Saturday night was a tour of Hong Kong gay bars - six bars in seven hours. We finished up around 5 am. good times. Sunday was a slow day - the major activities included dim sum, getting me a tailor made suit and watching all of the domestic helpers enjoying their day off. By law, the domestic help - normally immigrants from the Philippines or Indonesia have Sunday off. They gather in every public space in Hong Kong and enjoy the day together. Also on Sunday, Eric left for Korea and Adam left for Beijing (for work). We also made it up to the "Peak" one of the taller spots in Hong Kong. Nice view, huh. These are suppose to be koalas climbing up the building.Little different then Pago Pago's cityscape. The tallest building in Am Sam is three stories. We decided not to go to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant at the Peak - can you say random. Instead, we did have Indonesian food with Jordan's really cool friends Jamie & Amanda as well as Amanda's mom and neighbor. I was introduced to an avocado ice drink. Pretty good.On Monday, Jordan and I went to Kowloon - another area of Hong Kong. The view of Hong Kong from the ferry to Kowloon.We went to the "Ladies' Market" were you can get "copy watches" and "copy bags" - I got a watch for $2.94 US. sweet. It is still working, so I think I got my money's worth! It was sort of crazy place - people selling knock off crap for as far as the eye could see - including my favorite - Calvin Klein underwear. Huh? I think I would drawn the line on underwear. My last day in Hong Kong was a nice way to end my trip. First, Hong Kong has developed the most amazing aid for travelers. You can check your bags and get your boarding pass downtown - 24 hours before your departure. It is amazing, and so smooth. I loved it. After I checked in, we met up with Jaime and Amanda. We all got 50 minute foot massages. Kinda wonderful. After an amazing massage - she was darn good - we went for my last meal of dumplings. hmmm. good. I had no problems getting back to Apia - Maximo picked me up at the airport and went to dinner for blue cheese pizza. delicious. However, the next morning my flight from Apia to Pago was all messed up. I was suppose to be on the 9:15 am. However, the Governor of Am Sam showed up with his entourage and they bumped me and five other people from the flight. Thanks governor. You're the best. I got to wait around the Apia airport for another five hours to get on the 3:00 pm flight. Oh well, I am not going to let the governor ruin my trip. Cause it was a great one. Thanks again to Scott, Adam, Jordan and Adam for being great hosts.