How Do You Spell That?

Somone better let Rosie know they are at it again. Fire melts steel....

Posted by Brian at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pretty much covers my thoughts on the whole global warming thing...

Posted by Brian at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is only phase one of the eventual Aussie/HKG holiday movie, but I hope you like it.

It's 170MB+ so please only think of downloading it if you have a hefty Internet connection.

Posted by Brian at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I unfortunately did not see this show while we were over in Aussieland, but the ABC in Australia offers free episode downloads.

The format is a combination of The Daily Show and The Kids In The Hall, and they pull it off quite well. Americans are their favorite targets....and from the people they choose, we deserve it...

Posted by Brian at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And people say nothing productive happens in a classroom..... ;-)

(I think we were on break during my MBA class weekend when I posted this...)

Posted by Brian at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, the doctors at Redi-Med thought I had brought a friend home with me today.....

Yesterday my leg started to swell, nothing horrible, but annoying. Today, it turned purple. After a brief chat with DeAnn, off to the doctor I went. Because I have been flying a bit lately, doctor thought it might be DVT. So I'm driving to the hostpital and one very painful ultrasound later, I'm given a reserved clean bill of health. Legs are fine, looks like its some sort of infection right now.

Nothing horrible, but it made the day interesting....

Posted by Brian at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Destroying the environment, one SUV at a time ;-)

Posted by Brian at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have to echo Derek's sentiments about the whole VTech massacre (which was close to my friend Greg's home near Roanoke). But I'm seeing a trend forming in the media surrounding this incident.

#1. Gun Control.
#2. Putting away "Psycho" People.
#3. Increased Security.

Unfortunately I see all three "solutions" as bad. Gun Control has failed miserably, not because it is not strict enough, but the "guns=bad" culture that has developed has scared sh*tless most people from guns.

Putting away people with emotional or personality disorders is just barbaric. We tried this up until the 1970's and it didn't make the problem any better, it just put good people in cages.

And slapping a metal detector on every door is a money consuming waste of time. Start getting in peoples way and they will figure a way around it.

Posted by Brian at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For more pictures of our trip, check out the "official" Taylor-Hong Kong MBA Blog.

Posted by Brian at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's hard to put into words what I felt when I stepped through our front door and had Nathan run into our arms. Hence, the light blogging since our departure from Hong Kong.

Now, it's time to get back to life as usual. Already working through the various things for work, school, etc and into a life without Cantonese cuisine, subway fares, Octopus cards, or having to translate anything...

Posted by Brian at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to the free internet at the Hong Kong International Airport, the latest pictures are up for your review. Would type more, but I'm writing my big paper while DeAnn is shopping. More when we get home!

Posted by Brian at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, we're back....

Survived the People's Republic of China, will fill in more later. Need to finish packing and crash. Took over 170 pictures today. Will try to upload before we leave in the AM!

Posted by Brian at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Easy...go to Disney without them. :-)

OK, before the kids start figuring out ways to whack me when I walk in the door, let me fill you in on the story behind Disneyland Hong Kong.

a). Like Hong Kong, the park is the size of a postage stamp.
b). Like Hong Kong, the food mostly consists of "Cantonese Quisine"
c). Unlike Hong Kong, it is not crowded. In fact, I would qualify the park as "dead".

Pictures from today can be found here...

Cinderella's castle looks like someone let the air out of it, and the four or five major rides were exact clones of the ones in Florida. In fact, we did not ride a single ride in the park. Don't worry, we didn't miss much.

The subway which drops off right in front of the park is incredibly conveinent and cheap. $18HK for the trip to the park from our hotel which adds up to about $2.25US.

We came back early from the park, and had our final dinner at Dan Ryan's which was honestly the most memorable portion of thr trip. Went back down to Mong Kok (the market district) and didn't find what we were looking for, but maybe we will tomorrow.

Off to mainland China tomorrow for our last full day overseas. Already got our seat assignments for the flight home and hopefully we'll have an open slot between us for the long flight home.

More pictures tomorrow!

Posted by Brian at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry this is late, but when we got back today, I ended up passing out for about three hours, so the pictures and such are uploading now.

Went to Lantau Island, which is the largest (and least populated) of the major islands in Hong Kong. The place is essentially isolated, due mostly to the terrain and such. I have a feeling with property prices and the such, that will not last long.

The place is very interesting, with a number of fishing villages turned tourist traps along the way. It also is home to the largest bronze sitting Buddah in the world, which you can see from the various images I took today.

Had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant today....not bad, but most of the stuff was very very bland. Should have brought some BBQ sauce to try to liven it up.

The apex of our journey was the SkyRail ride, which dangles you from a cable for about four miles. Needless to say, I went on it, I survived it, and no panic attacks :-)

After the tour, we picked up my new suit and got some dinner. Headed back to the hotel and crashed and now of course I'm wired and typing this post. Going to write a bit for the big paper due in the next couple of weeks and will try to crash again.

Tomorrow is sort of wide open. We head to mainland China on Monday, so we'll probably finish packing tonight!!!

Posted by Brian at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Latest batch of pictures from yesterday have been uploaded to Picasa. These pictures include shots from our Jewelry factory tour (five minute tour, forty-five minutes being held inside their store to buy stuff). We escaped with the same amount of cash we walked in with. Avoided the Sampan boat tour of the harbor, but did see Repulse Bay, Stanley Harbor and Market (where we did walk out very cash poor) and a few other places as well.

The video is still being processed (it's five minutes of bad commentary by me so turn down the volume), but once it's done, you should be able to find it here.

Off to Lantau Island this morning...more pictures later!

Posted by Brian at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More pictures coming soon....

Posted by Brian at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry, I'm losing track at this point. The only thing that matters is we're six days away from walking in the front door at home. Pictures can be found here.

Mom, don't worry. Never doing a trip this long again. :-) A bit homesick, but really just tired of traveling.

Posted by Brian at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After our late morning, we decided to take a trip to buy me a new suit. Took a taxi (and paid the ransom of HK$15=$2US) to the mall.

It's the same mall which has the THANK YOU JESUS IT'S REAL FOOD!! restaurant. Nice ice skating rink and some of the kids were quite talented. After a quick breakfast at McDonald's we headed off to buy me a tailored suit.

Bravo HK on your subway system. Better than London in some respects, but once again, when you have to interconnect a postage stamp sized piece of land...you better get it right. :-) Nice idea having the trains open on both ends...makes it much easier and simpler to move around. Talked to some Germans who bought a PS3 for HK$3300 (about US$450) from a department store....might have to make a visit. Anyhow, after the suit fitting and such, we headed down to the Ladies Market.

OK, I think this trip has made me claustrophobic. Tons and tons of people pulling you aside to buy touristy crap. There were a few cool items which will be coming home with us, but you will have to wait and see what they are. ;-) Anyhow, that's all for this afternoon. We're taking a break (I'm getting congested...going to lie down for a bit again) but here's a humourous piece of Hong Kong that is obviously not safe for work or little eyes.

And mom, if you show it to Emily, she will be cackling for about a month.

Not Safe For Work Unless You Speak Cantonese

Posted by Brian at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Latest Photo Album is now up and ready for your approval.

Yesterday was the last day of our classes and tours. We have been meeting with two lecturers in the morning, and then going on one or two company visits while in Hong Kong. The university has done a really great job in tying in the lecture subject matter to the tours in the afternoon. At the end of all of this, there is a large paper to be handed in with our interpretations of where Hong Kong is going. More on that later.

The pictures are in order, so I'll take you through yesterday's events.

Yesterday morning, I walked down to the ATM to grab some cash (HK$400 ~ US$53) and that will easily get us through a day of shopping, taxis, and such. Class runs from 9:00 until 12:30, then we're off for our tours.

First stop is the Hong Kong Planning and Infrastructure Exhibition Gallery on Victoria Island. It's a nice place, but the kept asking two questions about the entire exhibit.

#1. The revitalization project kicks out alot of people from their homes, what if they don't want to leave?
#2. Who is paying for these multiple, multi-billion dollar projects?

The first question was answered by our tour guide, there is supposedly a vote and if 80% agree to move, then it's a done deal. So much for property rights... The second was unanswered.

Next visit was to the penthouse of the Wing Lung Bank in downtown. Nice building, beautiful penthouse offices for the executive staff, right up to the butlers who wear white gloves and everything. I'll get into the structure of the bank in my paper, but there were many old habits that they have yet to toss.

After that, we went down to the marina for a harbour cruise with dinner. The entertainment video was shared on my previous post. Nice views of the skyline, but my camera died, so I'm without pictures for the rest of the evening. We stopped briefly at Temple Street market and picked up a few trinkets.

Right now, I'm trying to fight off a cold, so we're skipping the tour this morning and will try to rest up for the Island tour tomorrow.

Posted by Brian at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pictures will be uploaded shortly...but this had to be posted first!

Enjoy...

Posted by Brian at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Day One of "full immersion" in Hong Kong....

#1. If I had to just eat Chinese food for the rest of my life, I'd be thin in about four weeks. The stuff is just awful. Yes, we've tried quite a few things, but honestly, it's mostly gross. Sorry if that doesn't make me a "multi-cultural" person but soy sauce to me is just gross.
#2. Downtown looks like it would be fun, but nothing that would make me sell the house and move the kids here.
#3. Chinese acting on TV is absolutely horrible. Cheesy. We're stuck watching bad Chinese soap operas and they remind me of a bad high school play.
#4. Classes are good, nice balance between the "pro-mainland" and "capitalists". The pro-mainland guys just keep forgetting how Communism has killed tens of millions over the past few decades.
#5. The people with British citizenship will talk freely about politics anytime. Others, not as much.

Oh yeah, met the first female CEO of a Chinese corporation today and the managing editor of China Daily. Nice people, they still need more English speakers.

Nothing really great to upload today, probably will be sparse on pictures the next couple of days with classes and everything. But I will blog more later. Good night from Hong Kong.

Posted by Brian at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We said goodbye to Sydney yesterday, beautiful city and (mostly) great people as well. Things tend to get a bit more real outside of the downtown area, as opposed to the stuffy downtown folks. Made our flight on Cathay and thankfully had an open seat for both of us on the flight over.

Got into Hong Kong late (every flight on Cathay has been almost an hour late...what gives?) and met up with my classmates for dinner at the airport. Our first Chinese Dinner....going to lose some weight on this end of the trip. :-)

Pictures are uploading right now on Picasa. It's breakfast time here, so we're heading downstairs for a "western" breakfast. Should be entertaining ;-)

Posted by Brian at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our room for our nine days in Hong Kong. Will post more later. it's 20:00 and I'm bushed.

Posted by Brian at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)