Asia, Farewell, Part 2

If you haven't read Part 1 of this post, go ahead and do so now.  I wanted to break up this last Asia post into two, one for Bangkok and one for our second stop in Hong Kong.  Here we are, back in what is possibly the most western city in Asia, Hong Kong.  It was a treat coming back to this city.  Everything is much cleaner here, including streets, bodies of water, and toilets.  It's neat to have a buffer zone to ease the culture shock on our way in and out of south-east Asia.

There are still some aspects of this town and Asia in general, that we're just not used to.  For one, the amount of people traffic can get really intense here.  In the shopping districts of Kowloon, the sidewalks can get as crowded as the exit lines at the end of rock concerts in the US.  It's a challenge for Dax and I to walk hand-in-hand during some stretches of it.

Another difference is the smells.  There's new smells in Asia that I don't think exist in the US.  I decided today that most new smells are, by default, bad.  There were smells today that I wasn't sure if they were coming from food products or some sort of unknown chemical leak, but I decided that until I knew for sure, the smells were bad.  I don't want to inhale something that I don't know what it is.  It's an odd feeling, smelling new smells.

I also just miss the comforts of home in general. I want to walk into a convenient store and be able to read the writing on the beverages I'm looking to purchase.  I miss being able to by something without having to divide the cost by 6 (China), 7 (Hong Kong), or 30 (Thailand) in order to figure out what I'm actually paying in USD.

And oh goodness, don't get me started on the toilets or overall plumbing systems in Thailand.  Let's just say, it's very different there.  The rest isn't appropriate to discuss in polite company.

Hehe, yeah, so I'm writing about the negative aspects of my journey, but I think it's good to note these things because they are all part of my experience, and, for better of for worse, they make me feel grateful to be an american citizen about to return to one of the best places to live on earth - San Francisco.

Okay so, back to the travel blogging for the rest of the post.  Today was our last day in Asia.  We spent it in Hong Kong, taking care of some final business, last minute shopping, and fulfilling some final desires we've had for our trip in Asia.  We finally got to go out in Victoria Harbor for a ride on a junk (asian-style boat) at sunset.  The harbor was just beautiful with the sky changing colors and the massive buildings turning their lights on one by one.

After we docked on the Kowloon side, we grabbed some dinner and then hurried back to the harbor in order to catch the Symphony of Lights show, the 40-building audio/visual light show that goes on every night on the island, viewable from the dock at Kowloon.  It was really neat to see the result of what must have been a very challenging coordinated effort between all the buildings to put on the show.  Check check!  Missions accomplished!

And tonight we pack.  We leave Hong Kong at 9:45am, have a two hour layover in Narita, Japan, then reach SFO at 8:50am, nearly an our before we left (Hong Kong time).

So this is Liz and Dax, signing off from Asia.  Thanks to all who have been reading our blog!  And don't forget to check out our Picassa album if you haven't already!

Lot's of love,
Dax and Liz