Finally! The Eagle has Landed!

I'm here! In Hong Kong that is.

I have to say, much of my nervousness for the processes has turned out to be silliness! I couldn't have asked for this to work out much smoother!

I landed in HK at 10:05am on the dot. The flight from Taipei to HK was a cinch after the first 2 flights. The "stay up on the first and sleep the second" strategy worked quite well for all practical purposes. Too bad the two seats on either side of me where empty while I was awake but full while sleeping. It would have been nice to stretch out but now I'm nit picking.

I met two nice Russian guys who own some sort of IT company in the US and spend lots of time "shopping around for stuff" in China. They gave me some tips on what to see and do. Too bad I'm not traveling on the salary of the head of a company, maybe I'd actually be able to do 1 or 2 of the things they suggested! haha

Customs took about 5 minutes and my baggage had already been pulled off the rack because it had come 2 hours before me. Then I walked out the door and there was an money exchange place right in front of me that also happened to sell the train ticket I needed. Then I walked about 50 feet to the train station. It really couldn't have been easier.

The hotel was a little trickier to find and I spent a good 20 minutes looking and feeling ridiculously lost but a nice policeman gave me directions and then checked up on me when I managed to botch them up. Knowing the numbers, a big smile, and a few Xie Xie's have been indispensable. Mostly because I haven't run into anyone yet who doesn't understand at least basic English sentences.

After I checked in and showered I met up with a family friend named Tom Keanen for lunch who has been absolutely incredible in helping me get this whole thing off the ground. I can't thanks him enough. I can only hope I can be as helpful to someone else wanting to do this as he has been too me.

We had a great U.S. style lunch at in his building that has a pretty fabulous view. From one window alone I counted 38 building cranes. If you wanted you could just sit around and watch the city transform, its pretty crazy!

Well anyway, I think its time to do some exploring and picture taking. This post is getting pretty long.

Until next time.