Hong Kong Ty-Phooney

Well, it does look like the typhoon "Chanchu" is going to miss us directly. The name "Chanchu" means "Pearl" ironically as this is what I was supposed to get in HK -- I don't think this is what anyone really meant.

From CNN...
"The storm was the strongest typhoon ever to be reported in the South China Sea in May, the observatory said. It roared toward Hong Kong after striking the Philippines last weekend, killing at least 37 people and leaving thousands homeless."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/05/16/china.typhoon.ap/index.html

From Yahoo...
"In Shenzhen, local authorities issued landslide warnings at some high-risk places and were ready to evacuate people if necessary. Advertisement billboards in the city were either reinforced or removed."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060517/sc_afp/asiaweather_060517054256

Well -- at least I don't feel like a wimp for being nervous.

The time delay here is interesting. I am writing this on Wednesday morning -- and my day will be finished long before anyone in the US gets started. I almost feel like telling everyone... "Hey, I have already done Wednesday and it was nothing special. Maybe you should skip it and hang on for Thursday, but why don't you wait and I will let you know how it goes."

Everything else is going well.

For lunch we ate northern Chinese Food. I know this because the name of the restaurant was "Northern Chinese Food". We had to wash our plates and utensils prior to touching (with the hot tea) which I felt guilty about (like an American elitist) but every ex-Pat seems to do it. The best dish was the spicy green beans which are served with hot red peppers. The message was "Eat the Green, not the Red". As a color-blind guy, that was fun. Andy Ward (Lexington guy here) would just keep peering in my bowl and say "Got a red". He is a very good guy... I have to think that some of my other friends would have let me go just to see the reaction.

We went to an Irish pub for dinner last night and I got my favorite (Bangers & Mash). Everything was just like in the US -- even the loud obnoxious Rugby team at the bar. Only the wait staff gave away that I was in China. Strange.

Also, I got a whopping 7 hours of sleep last night which rocks. Breakfast is still great -- and I have now eaten more papaya than I have in my entire life.