Gullible's Travels

I've been traveling a fair bit more than the norm lately. My work keeps me busy but it is an incredible luxury to have an expense account that will still allow for some small pleasures.

Props must go to Cutie-Patootie Claussen at the Coopers Square Hotel for taking care of D & I during our stay in NYC. The hotel is too kool for skool(I still love it!), but he made us feel welome and very well taken care of. Be forewarned, next time I see you, I'm putting you in my pocket and taking you home. (Do only older people say things like that? Good god, I'm mortified.)
Must also take this opportunity to plug Accomplice:NY, an amazing group of people who put on a mxiture of walking tour, scavenger hunt, and improv theater. It's a blast and an awesome way to see parts of New York City. Run don't walk(or in this walk don't run?) for your tickets and be prepared to have your wits about you!

Fast foward 2 weeks, and I'm in Hong Kong (I'm so continental!) enjoying a solitary brunch on my one day off during a 2-week business trip. Started out in Singapore and will ultimately end the roadshow in Beijing. The Aircon here can be jarring; and as with visits past, I am fighting a cold. Its annoying but at least I brought fortification (Zycam!). And, as a Chinese-looking, Cantonese speaking ex-Pat in this City, the experience can be an interesting one.
If I use English to communicate, I can be treated differently. Treated better or worse depends on who I'm talking to. The drivers tend to find it funny that I'm bi-lingual. Last night my driver wouldn't shut up knowing I was an ex-Pat. Too bad I only understood about 60% of his story. I think he was discussing Holland? It was nice feeling my Cantonese improve day by day. Who knows, maybe I'll be expounding on the the state of affairs in Holland sometime in the future. I reckon I should learn to expound upon it in English first...

A Visit to Beijing

aka: Where Ancient and Modern Collide
I'm 2 days into Beijing and I'm marveling at this transformed city. I thought Hong Kong was a chaotic blend of the old and new.. but it has nothing on Beijing.

While here I've visited both the Ancient and the Modern. The Forbidden City and the Great Wall humbled me with their majestic scale and history. But tears welled up in my eyes when I came upon the National Stadium(aka Birds Nest) and all the new history it had made in such a brief amount of time. It is a tremendous site to see up close; it's the 2nd building I have ever seen that has brought tears to my eyes. (The Disney Concert Hall being the First.). Perhaps it seems silly to cry at the site of a building. But visionary architecture can do that, it can soar above just steel girders and right angles to be glorious and full of hopes and dreams.


And one wouldn't think I would find it here, in the Communist Motherland. Where men(and women) spit freely and pick their noses with matching aplomb. But there's the juxtaposition. I fear using the toilet while away from my Ikea-like hotel because squatting is just not in my DNA(is there ever enough Purell??). But it seems this damn city is wired and I can surf the internet wherever I wish. The Great Wall warns against cellphone usage during thunderstorms; and I still find stewed dogmeat on the menu.

I reckon there are some things technology still can't do.....

Greetings from Asia

Greetings from Hong Kong!
It's been just 5 days here and there's a part of me thats already a tad homesick. Pathetic, right?
5-star hotel, room service, and a 3-hr massage and facial treatment. What more could a girl ask for? I think it's just the fatigue talking. It's been a full work week on top of jetlag.

I'm off to Beijing in the AM for Holiday. At which time I'm hoping to catch on me, and you of course!
In the meantime, this little doodah has been giving me laughs non-stop. Enjoy!

Edit:
Video can no longer be embedded. You know, copywrite and all that stuff.
But here's the link, it's classic.