And 8 flights later I’m back in Hong Kong.
During my recent trip to the US I spoke at OSCON in Portland, saw law firms in silicon valley, and attended a party for my great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. Now I’m back on warm and wet Lamma Island in Hong Kong where I just missed the latest typhoon.
I have to admit, I much prefer living in an ‘earlier’ timezone. Operating on US Pacific time had me constantly feeling as though I was late and behind the rest of the world. Now, after losing a day during the flight, I’m back in the future.
This trip was my first time to downtown San Francisco. Previously, my bay area excursions have been limited to the Santa Clara and San Jose areas. I’ve never been a big fan of the almost eerily picture perfect suburbia that dominates silicon valley. San Francisco, on the other hand, is more my style despite the persistent fog. The Chinatown district which I visited on my last day felt almost like home, err, Hong Kong that is. In particular, the tofu dish I ended up with at the House of Nanking was great. (The reviews are right, just let your waiter order for you.) Not great was the GPS in my rental car. Seemed as though it always informed me a few meters too late about that turn I should have taken. I much prefer a simple map and relying on my own sense of direction.
On my return to Asia, I got my second look at the new terminal no. 3 in the Beijing Airport. The thing is huge. Perhaps that’s why it seemed deserted on the evening before the Olympic opening ceremonies. I expected long lines and plenty of hassle, but instead I glided through barely bumping into another soul.
In other Olympic news, I can confirm that the air quality yesterday was pretty bad. Despite all of Beijing’s efforts, the game planners are simply going to have to cross their fingers and hope for good weather. I suppose this goes to show you can’t always cram at the last minute. The photo below is a typical scene of Beijing taken last year.
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