You Know Me Well

According to the stamps in my passport, I have been to Hong Kong eight times in the last twelve months. And that does not even count the times that I transited through on my way to/from Taipei before moving here last October. Thank goodness that the new government has announced that direct flights to the mainland will start in July. Only on weekends at first, but that is certainly better than the current state of play.

On a related note, we applied for a China visa for Miss Gioia this week so she can come with us on our trips. The process requires that she surrender her China passport so the powers that be can invalidate it. Neither China nor the United States allow for dual citizenship in this particular case, so I suppose we made the citizenship decision for her a long time ago. But still, the surrendering of her China passport made me very sad.

Even my secretary came back into my office after I handed her all of the paperwork and said: "Are you SURE!? Do you really want to do this?" Umm, yes, I have contemplated the repercussions and am sure about the decision, but thank you for making me feel worse about it.

HK Frequent Visitor

I flew to Hong Kong yesterday for an afternoon meeting. As I waited in the long line, I enviously grumbled about the people passing through the HK Frequent Visitor line. Why are THOSE people special? Sheesh! Who do THEY know...

As it turns out, it is quite easy to apply for the card. There is only a quick, on-line form to complete. All you need to qualify is evidence that you have visited Hong Kong (cleared immigration, that is) more than three times in the last 12 months.

So, do I qualify? What do you think?

What a Magical Day!

On Saturday, Chris and I were standing in line for the Jungle Cruise ride at Hong Kong Disneyland. From behind us, we heard a two foot tall little one say: What a magical day! Indeed it was.

Chris flew down to meet me in HK on Friday as I was making my way back from Taipei. We expected to spend three to four hours at Disney, but we wound up staying for over seven hours. It is the smallest Disneyland around, but it was more than enough for us.

The Stitch interactive show was crazy technosavy. We still don't know how they got that one to work. I survived Space Mountain (I hate, hate roller coasters), and Chris turned out to be an Ace Buzz Lightyear fighter on the space blaster ride. The Lion King show was really spectacular. Disney does it all well: staging, lights, vocals, choreography, timing.

I was most impressed, however, by the logistics of getting to and in the park. We bought our tickets at the Central MTA station, took the train for about 25 minutes to a station near the airport, switched to the Disney line, and then walked right into the park. No driving, no trolleys from the parking lot to the gate, no long lines to get inside.

Chris took this picture of me on the teacups. Who says Disney is just for kiddos?


For those of you who have not yet been, take note that HK Disney is a great time.