Wednesday, March 28, 2007

honorably arrived

These are my feet in Hong Kong. I'm here (or there, depending on where YOU are), honorably arrived as they say in Japan.

And it was an honorable arrival. I have to say, HKIS sure treats you well. For the first time, I had one of those smart looking drivers holding up a sign with my name on it at the airport. And then I rode off in a fancy black limo. When I arrived at the hotel, I could see all the passerbyers watching thinking I might be a celebrity. I hated to disapoint them, for not only was I far from being a celebrity, I looked awful. Nothing like 17 hours on an airplane to make you look like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Also, nothing like 17 hours on an airplane to make you dull-minded. I got some HK dollars at the airport, but didn't figure out how the currency worked out. So I think I tipped the driver the equivalent of $1. and the baggage person $40. (I was trying to compensate for my $1. driver mistake). And then I got complimentary room service from the hotel; and I forgot to tip that fellow completely. Oops.



But I liked the room service. There was more fruit but I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. But notice the hot green tea. It was lovely, I had a cup before I completely collapsed into bed, asleep to the world until 5 AM Hong Kong time...



when I realized my room had a view. Isn't that neat? I'm on the 18th floor so I can see the city and the water and the rooftops. One rooftop in particular struck me:



because of the garden. There's just something poetic about a small rooftop garden like that, in the vast landscape of buildings. The inkling of story is now in my head...I might have to spend the rest of my day writing it. Good thing I have 2 weeks here.