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August 7, 2012

My first trip to China

I've finished moving to my new (which s actually my old) home town in Japan.  We've opened all our boxes and now our apartment  is just messy because that's the way things are sometimes...


:)

I've been busy with business traveling every month, racking up (raking in?) those frequent flier miles...

This month I just returned from my first overseas trip of the year.  This was my first time in China.
I didn't go to the mainland so "technically" it might not count but I still learned quite a bit about the drinking habits, food, climate and architecture.

I was only 3 minutes away from a lovely beach but I did not swim nor sunbathe...Remember, this was for business and I didn't want to take my bathing suit...I am weird in that way...
The trip was a doozy from the beginning.  The day of departure "coordinated" with typhoon number 10 (Vicente). We still managed to land in Hong Kong and I felt like hugging the Cathay Pacific pilot for such a smooth landing.
I had no idea that the typhoon would be so devastating (my thoughts are with the people of Hong Kong). I am very glad that my colleagues and I were able to get to China eventually and most importantly, safely.

I spent a night in Hong Kong and the next day headed for the airport (in heavy rains) to catch the flight to Sanya, Hainan Island.  Our 3pm flight was moved to 6:30pm then 9:30 until it eventually left at around11:30pm.  We got to our hotel at 3AM. :-/

But the next day this was awaiting:

The pools were like lagoons!  (There was a regular pool too.)

The nights.

It's hard to see in the picture but there is a hotel staff member patrolling the beach.  The tides were high because of the typhoons so no one was allowed to swim in the sea.

After the conference, I went back to Hong Kong to stay a night...the flights were still delayed because of ANOTHER typhoon, so it was a good thing that I stayed.

Look at those lights!

I didn't have my tripod with me so I held my breath while taking this picture 
(so that the camera could soak in all the lights)...

Just for comparing, here is a similar shot I took with my iPhone:


                                                          Hong Kong in the daytime:
I didn't get to go shopping (no time) but the atmosphere was soooo different from any other Asian city I've been in that I am really hoping to visit again.

More posts to come on my new start in the south western part of Japan.
I hope you have a lovely summer!



3 comments:

donna baker said...

Hello from Oklahoma. Hong Kong looks very fun and can't wait to hear about your new home.

Frances said...

Hello Tulsa! It's grand to see this post from you. What a busy lady you are. I am not too sure that I envy you all that business travel, but love seeing these pictures of Hong Kong.

It seems a vertical sort of place, with high energy, and lots of business going on. (I think that I would want to take lots of naps if I were ever to visit there, as Hong Kong just seems more intense than my own NYC.)

Best wishes to you in your new home. I'm sure that you'll soon have those boxes sorted out and might even have the fun of staying home for a couple of weeks.

xo

Kristin M said...

these pics r GORGEOUS!!!! your a great photographer!