In which there are a number of totally uninformed an hopefully inoffensive ruminations about a Foreign Culture

Well, then.

Here I am in another internet cafe, waiting for my room to be ready- note to self, when arriving in Asia at asscrack of dawn, look for hotel with 24 hour checkin.

Anyway, I think I didn't mention in my last post the COMPLETE LACK of customs activity. The immigration control line was nonexistent, and the guy just took my passport, smiled, handed it back to me, and said have a nice day.

As for the REAL customs checkpoint, immediately after baggage, I sailed through without even realizing I'd done so, as there were a couple of guys at a desk that said CUSTOMS in front of a large doorway- they were so lackadaisical and nonchalant that I suspected they were merely the guards for the "real" customs line.... nope. I'd given them they eyebrows-up and smiling "do I talk to you, or....??" face, and they just waved me past.

WTF, people, there was just a big bombing in London!!

Ah, well, I suppose it's just as well that I maintain possession of my potentially illicit Fuji apples.

So,observations on Hong Kong itself: first of all, I don't think the city has any bad external approaches. It's one of those gorgeous coastal cities, like San Fran of Sydney with more Hawaiian topography. Lush, green, beautiful. The harbor contains everything from decaying fishing sloops to yachts to construction "dinosaurs" that actually look even more creature-like than the usual US variety.

Inside the city it's another matter. There are spectacular buildings and still more lush greenery, but buildings that look like tenements are side by side with gleaming, clearly expensive new high rises.

A nice man on my shuttle bus said they all cost a million dollars for a studio. Whether that was HK or US dollars, I'm not sure, but if it's true, some of those people have to be bitter. I told Jess that it was like an amalgam of San Fran, Hawaii, and the Bronx, and that's just about accurate.

There are people waiting to use this free terminal, so I'll wrap up for now.