Hong Kong By The Numbers

Posting from Beijing what was written yesterday:

Writing in on the plane from Singapore to Bangkok (and then on to Beijing). In Hong Kong my hard drive gave me the blue screen of death and I was without a working computer until I got to Singapore (talk about feeling like you’re missing a lim!).

Now I’ve run the risk of doing so much that I won’t write, because once I start, I won’t be able to finish. Therefore, I have opted to use some creative techniques to put across the highlights of my trip so far.

Hong Kong Highlights by the Numbers:

Number One Site: The view of Kowloon from my desk in our office on a very high floor of a very tall building overlooking Victoria Harbour

Number of days the sky above was blue but the buildings across the harbour were surrounded by smog blown in from Southern China: 3

Number One Weirdest Food Consumed: Jelly Fish – doesn’t taste like chicken, and has the consistency of cartilage – truly heinous.

Number of times learned that jelly fish was jelly fish after consuming said jelly fish: 1

Number of times dim sum consumed in 4 days: 5 (yes, twice on one day)

Number of times dropped food on table due to attempts at authentic chopstick technique: 3

Number of times guy next to me ate said food dropped on table: 2

Number of shanghainese dumplings consumed in one meal: 5

Number of ducks consumed: 3

Number of dim sum cravings since leaving Hong Kong: -2 (have currently sworn off dim sum)

Number of days plagued by emperor’s revenge: 3

Number of nights drank champagne for dinner due to lack of appetite from emperor’s revenge: 1

Number of imported Belgian cracker choices at CityCenter ex-pat grocery store in the basement of IFC: 32

Average price of imported Belgian cracker box: 72HKD ($9USD)

Number of times I drove past the Christian cemeteries layered up on hills: 8 (to and from hotel, every time)

Number of times I have watched a man carving a gravestone from my taxi window: 1

Number of taxi drivers who asked me for directions to my hotel: 3

Number of times I have been forced to check a bag that weighed less than 8 pounds by overzealous airport staff: 1