Last Day in Hong Kong - First Day in Shanghai

Our last day in Hong Kong was one of our best days there, so I will apologize in advance for the extra long note. The day started with our normal hot cup of coffee and pancake and egg breakfast at McDonalds! Yes, I know, we are supposed to try new things while here, but there is something to be said about consistency. McDonalds is the poster child for consistency. Unlike our first day’s breakfast at another restaurant, we know the eggs will be warm and the coffee hot at McDonalds.

Little did we know how our day was going to turn out or how much fun we would have. After a little shopping, we headed down to The Peninsula Hotel for the “High Tea”, which is listed as one of the things to do in Hong Kong before you die. More importantly, it was recommended by Dr. Mack. 

Of course, as soon as we get there (a bit early), Frank and Brett had a long discussion on whether we really wanted to spend the money to do this (you have to follow me here, it is important). 

  [Picture at right: Frank and Brett discussing why in the world should we spend $30 to have "tea" - yes, we were already seated, we were one of the first ones there. Brett is insisting it will be a waste of money.  Frank is on the left, Brett is on the right]

While I can’t use Frank’s terminology on why you need to try something at least once (it had to do with a Monkey’s backside, but if you know Frank, you know why I can’t post it here).

Frank was convincing in his argument, but of course he had my support in all this. So, four out of five of us were going to give it a chance and pay the $30.  Brett had nowhere else to go, so he joined us anyway.

Here on the left, you can see Frank is still a bit skeptical and is making sure to let the waiter know it too! 

Andrew, our waiter, was very confident and didn't let Frank faze him at all.

Then the classical music started. Okay, that is all Brett needed. For the next 20 minutes, Brett and Lee started discussing classical music and how much they enjoyed it. Okay guys, we get it. You like classical music!  Remember, 

Keep in mind, Brett was the guy complaining about the $30 for "tea" and Lee is the guy that thought skipping it to have a beer would be better.

At about this point, we could all see that Brett was feeling pretty good about his decision to spend the $30 for tea, but I don’t think he was ready to admit it.  The picture is the orchestra on an upstairs patio.

The music was wonderful, but I was not about to let Brett know that I was enjoying it.  I was enjoying watching him go on about how good they were and “how that was the way it is supposed to be played”.  Hmmm... That $30 was not even mentioned for the rest of the evening.

So anyway, right about that time, as Frank is pouring his tea, Brett turns to him and lets him know that if he adds a little bit of sugar, it will bring the “taste” out. Now, as I am typing this, I’m about on the floor still laughing. You had to be there to hear how he said it and how serious he was. Remember, I told you in the beginning of this message about how Brett was NOT going to spend $30 on tea.  Now he is the resident expert on how one should hold the cup and the procedure for drinking tea.

After the classical music discussion, he flows right into how to bring the taste of that tea out :-) CLASSIC!!! At about this point, I think we were pretty close to being kicked out of this high-end hotel because all of us were just about on the floor laughing. My side was really starting to hurt.  Brett was just sitting there with the "What????" look on his face like nothing was wrong.

So, for all of you out there in cyberland, if you plan on having a tea-party, invite Brett and don't forget, "a little bit of sugar will bring the taste out". 

We recovered from the “Tea-Party” and headed out to the harbor cruise to watch the Symphony of Lights. This is another one of those “can’t miss’ while in Hong Kong. It was impossible for me to capture the atmosphere since I am not that good of a photographer. Let me tell you that it was simply amazing to watch the light show. This is another one of those events that you will not regret if you ever have the chance to see it.

By the time that the show was over, we were all worn out from a very long day and we were looking forward to getting back to our hotel. This was our last full day in Hong Kong and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:30AM and, you guessed it, another visit to McDonalds for a quick breakfast. We finished packing and met downstairs to check out and to catch the van back to the airport. Frank and I were on one plane and Lee, Brett and Munira caught another one, but we left at just about the same time. The flight to Shanghai was uneventful.

Once in Shanghai, we quickly cleared customs and Frank and I headed over to see if we can find the others. Let me tell you, that the terminals are large and you do a lot of walking. We landed in terminal 2 and everyone else was coming in at terminal 1. After a run-in with the moving walkway (it’s a long story), Frank and I wound our way to terminal 1 where we walked up as everyone was clearing customs. How is that for timing.

Just about that time, the sky opened up. And I mean, really opened up. Trying to load the luggage in the bus was a challenge, but we had some cover. I know we get some pretty hefty thunderstorms in the DFW area, but this one was right up there with them. We had some very close lightening strikes. All I can say is that we were very lucky to land when we did; before the storm got there. It would have been very messy if we were one hour later - I don’t think we would have landed anywhere near Shanghai with the storm.

The drive to the hotel was very slow. One thing I learned about the drivers out here is that when it rains, everyone turns on their emergency blinkers and drives VERY slow. My guess is that it took 3-4 times as long to get to the hotel as it normally would. Drainage on some roads was a problem as there was some flooding.

We arrived at our hotel, the Seagull at the Bund, without any major issues. Check-in took some time, as you would imagine with as many people as we had. 

[Picture on the Right is the view looking out from our hotel]

After their long flight from DFW, many of my colleagues were pretty worn out. After seeing their eyes and tired expressions, I was thankful my small group left a few days early as we were accustomed to the change in time.

While the hotel is nice, for some reason I was not able to take advantage of sleeping in. I guess my "clock" was still a bit off as I woke up at 3:30AM. I took the opportunity to call home.

By the way, most of the class is using Skype to communicate and it is working well for them. I have Vonage VOIP at home anyway, so I use my computer to make all my calls for free. I believe Skype cost is minimal and free when you call other Skype customers.

I bet today is going to be a long day and I hope waking up early does not wear me out. It is a fairly light day for Sunday (remember, we are 13 hours ahead of Central Time). We are scheduled for free time until 4PM and then we will meet up with an attorney for a two hour meeting (more on that with the next blog entry).

After that, we will have dinner on a boat on the river, which should be a lot of fun. The blog entries may be a lot shorter in the future as our schedule gets very hectic starting on Monday. I will do the best that I can, but it all depends on how tired I get!

Don’t forget to check the Photo Album as I am always uploading all the pictures. There are many duplicates and the videos are too large to send, but it will give you an idea of some of the things we are doing.