Back to Hong Kong...
On my last night in the Philippines, I checked out the local TV and was surprised to discover that the actors on some of their shows would switch back and forth between speaking Talagog and English...sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. Rather odd and a bit disconcerting.
In the morning, I took a motorbike at 5 A.M. from the hotel to the boat landing for the 20-minute ride across the bay to Caticlan. From there, I had to get a 3-wheel motorized tricycle to the airport for my one hour flight back to Manila. From there, it was off to Hong Kong.
Although the weather was mostly clear, the trip across the open water in the 747 was the bumpiest that I had ever experienced on such a big plane. Pretty intense for a while. Anyway, we landed without incident at Hong Kong's relatively new international airport. I had been to Hong Kong twice before (1988 and 1998) and was looking forward to seeing it again. I bought a ticket on the Airport Express...the fast train that goes into Kowloon and Hong Kong...and called Gino to tell him when I'd be arriving. The exchange rate here is about 7.7 Hong Kong dollars to one US dollar. Because of Hong Kong's long history with England, the traffic here all drives on the left. Once you leave Hong Kong proper and enter what was once "mainland China," however, the traffic flow quickly switches over to the right for the rest of the country. Gino and I hooked up at one of the restaurants at the City Center where I met an old friend of his named Matt Hutchison. After that, Gino and I took the train back to his house, and I finally had a chance to meet his charming wife, Lili and their three brilliant kids ages 6, 4 and 3. Gino showed me some of the nuances of the outrageous sound system that he's set up in his home, and I quickly developed a new appreciation of Pink Floyd.
On Friday, their driver drove the three of us into town where Lili had to be dropped off for a meeting. Afterwards, Gino and I went over to the Merecl office on the seventh floor of a super-modern building overlooking the bay. A magnificant view with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the water. The weather today is bit nasty with lots of thunder, lightning and rain. Since it started storming last night, hopefully, it will improve later on tonight. More later...
In the morning, I took a motorbike at 5 A.M. from the hotel to the boat landing for the 20-minute ride across the bay to Caticlan. From there, I had to get a 3-wheel motorized tricycle to the airport for my one hour flight back to Manila. From there, it was off to Hong Kong.
Although the weather was mostly clear, the trip across the open water in the 747 was the bumpiest that I had ever experienced on such a big plane. Pretty intense for a while. Anyway, we landed without incident at Hong Kong's relatively new international airport. I had been to Hong Kong twice before (1988 and 1998) and was looking forward to seeing it again. I bought a ticket on the Airport Express...the fast train that goes into Kowloon and Hong Kong...and called Gino to tell him when I'd be arriving. The exchange rate here is about 7.7 Hong Kong dollars to one US dollar. Because of Hong Kong's long history with England, the traffic here all drives on the left. Once you leave Hong Kong proper and enter what was once "mainland China," however, the traffic flow quickly switches over to the right for the rest of the country. Gino and I hooked up at one of the restaurants at the City Center where I met an old friend of his named Matt Hutchison. After that, Gino and I took the train back to his house, and I finally had a chance to meet his charming wife, Lili and their three brilliant kids ages 6, 4 and 3. Gino showed me some of the nuances of the outrageous sound system that he's set up in his home, and I quickly developed a new appreciation of Pink Floyd.
On Friday, their driver drove the three of us into town where Lili had to be dropped off for a meeting. Afterwards, Gino and I went over to the Merecl office on the seventh floor of a super-modern building overlooking the bay. A magnificant view with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the water. The weather today is bit nasty with lots of thunder, lightning and rain. Since it started storming last night, hopefully, it will improve later on tonight. More later...
posted by Chuck Hillig | 2:40 AM
2 Comments:
HI, MR HILLIG. IM EIZA, FROM THE PHILIPPINES. INCIDENTALLY YOU MET MY KOREAN STUDENT IN BORACAY A FEW DAYS AGO, HER NAME IS JULIE. SHORT DARK STRAIGHT HAIR, SLIM, OF COURSE KOREAN, AND SHE WAS VERY EXCITED MEETING YOU. WE FOUND YOUR BLOG SPOT ONLINE AND SHE WAS HOPING THAT YOU WOULD HAVE MENTIONED HER NAME OR THE MEETING THERE. NOTHING. SHE WAS KIND OF DISAPPOINTED COZ SHE GOT HER GUTS TO TALK TO A FOREIGNER. BUT ITS OKAY. THE MEMORY OF THAT TALK WILL PROBABLY REMAIN WITH HER. YOU SEE, KOREANS ARE TERRIFIED OF TALKING TO FOREIGNERS BECAUSE OF THEIR LIMITED ENGLISH SKILLS AND SHE WAS ONE OF THOSE BRAVE ENOUGH TO DO THAT. I OFTEN CHALLENGE MY STUDENTS TO TRY TO TALK TO ENGLISH SPEAKERS EVEN IF JUST TO ASK FOR THE TIME. I HOPE THAT SHE SEND YOU AN EMAIL TO SAY HI. GOODBYE AND GOODLUCK TO YOUR NEW BOOK!
Hey Chuck! Welcome to Hong Kong. Hope to c u soon!
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