What the Hong Kong is going on?

I always figured that my first trip off the continent would be Europe. Little did I know that it would be to Hong Kong. This trip came as a bit of surprise as my new boss instructed me to go to Dallas and then to Hong Kong. If nothing else, my boss did take care of me by flying me business class and we are staying at a pretty nice hotel.

The exprience in the airport wasn't too difficult. It is very similar to going to Canada these days with going through customs and everything; however, you do notice that you are a ways from home by the signage. It is nice to see that everything is at least bilingual for the most part.

Once I found the desk for my hotel, they set me up with a multi-hotel shuttle. Apparently in order to keep the tourists from getting lost, they brand each one of us with a sticker like cattle. As you can see, I am thrilled with this process.

After about an hour ride to the hotel, it took everything I had to stop from getting room service and going to sleep. I knew that I had to go out and explore a bit. Ya know, do a bit of James Bond recon mission to get familiar with my surroundings.

The surrounding area of the hotel is gorgeous and bustling on a Saturday night (although you can't tell from this picture). It reminds me of a much cleaner version of NYC (probably 'cause littering can get you caned or something). There are a ton of little shops and parks.

It is hard to tell from my camera phone but there is a ton of neon and a shop every few feet. This area is very cool and I loved walking around and exploring. Most of the small shops signage is in Mandarin only so it was hard to tell what they sold expecially with restaurants. As much as I wanted to just give a little shop or stand a shot for dinner, I realized that being allergic to shellfish was a key factor in trying to find a restaurant with bilingual menus. The last thing we need is an oops we killed the American with lobster moment here in Hong Kong.

I ended up settling for this Thai restaurant that I passed early on. Kind of a let down to order Thai in Hong Kong but it was darn good and I figure that when my boss gets here tomorrow, he will take me out for some authentic HK food.

Although I was pretty nervous about being the ignorant American tourist, after a couple of hours enjoying an outdoor dinner and spending a while looking around, I am excited to be here. The only disappointing part is that I will be working most of the time and not exploring.