Photos

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. We've been so busy in Singapore, I haven't had much time to update everyone. I actually don't have much time now either, so I'm just going to leave you with some pictures from the past few days!

Hong Kong

Singapore

Day 2 Pictures

I should have known that today was going to be a bit strange when it started off with egg shells on Eliot's shoulders. Yes, when you put a group of 22 guys on a bus, the maturity level drops down to the last time 22 guys probably spent time together on a bus, in high school.

The really great part of the day was dinner. Finally, I was able to try some really exotic foods. The restaurant, which is a seafood place, is owned by one of the entrepreneurs we visited on the first day (the small business brokerage). We were able to have conversations with some other awesome business men and learn a little too.

One of the non-seafood items on the table: chicken feet. Below, they are the white and pink dish off to the back of the picture. They may look a bit like shrimp, but trust me, they tasted nothing like shrimp. Boiled and drenched in some sort of spicy sauce, I was only able to down a little bit of one. The texture was way too strange for me. (And the fact that it was chicken feet didn't help me fight back my gag reflex.)

I thought it was interesting to find so many Christmas decorations in Hong Kong. The Chinese New Year celebration starts on January 23 or 24, so most companies are switching over to their New Years decorations.

An outside view of the restaurant...

We might try to go to Macau tonight, which is supposed to be like the Chinese version of Las Vegas. I'll let you know how that goes (hopefully). Until tomorrow!

Hong Kong Day 1 Pictures

The above are the view from our hotel room. It's quaint but good enough for me and my Chinese room mate, as you can see below. Single beds, so it feels a bit like college. 

As I mentioned in my previous post, we visited two companies, the second of which was located near the Hong Kong Convention Center. The Center is home to a number of Asia's largest events including the largest annual Wine Convention in Asia, the largest Toy Convention in Asia, and more. Outside the Convention Center is a golden statue of the flower of Hong Kong that was built by the Chinese Government in 1997 as Hong Kong changed hands from a British colony to a Chinese territory. While Hong Kong still has an independent government as a Special Administrative Area, the Hong Kong citizens will tell you that their government is basically just a facade, as the Chinese Government really influences policy in the city. However, property and income taxes still are favorable for privately held business within the region, helping the city continue to prosper. 

 A view of Kowloon from the convention center including Hong Kong's tallest building, which features a Ritz Carlton Hotel on the top floors.

 As mentioned before, we dined at Jumbo Palace, where scenes were shot for James Bond Goldfinger. The restaurant's food is next to terrible, but the decor makes it an attractive destination as you can see from the photos below. The restaurant is designed after the emperor's palace, and to enhance their tourist appeal, the restaurant allows guests to sit for photos on a thrown in full traditional emperor garb. Below you can see Eliot (mustache) and Corey (yellow gown) dressed as the emperor and empress...

I don't know that I've ever had shrimp cocktail that featured the whole shrimp. The closest I've come is Michael's Shrimp bake down in 39 Larch, but even there the heads were removed. More of Jumbo Palace below...

After dinner, a few of us decided to grab drinks at a place called the Cocky Bar. Basically, it has an awesome view of Hong Kong Island and relatively inexpensive drinks. Unfortunately, most of my photos came out a bit blurry, but hopefully I'll have better pictures for you from today and tomorrow.

From left to right, the photo below shows Xin (my room mate), Eta (from Taiwan), me, Yung (from California), and Phil (nothing special about Phil... he's just Phil).

We had another great day today, Day 2 of company visits. I had my camera but because the weather was so bad, I mostly left it in my pocket. Dinner tonight was far better than anything else we've hand so far, and included my first encounter with chicken feet, which I believe can be view at YouTube somewhere. I'll be sure to share the link when I find it.

I'm hoping to get some better pictures of the city tomorrow when its supposed to be a bit warmer and less humid, but we'll see what actually happens. In sum though, I've never seen as many high-rise apartment buildings in my life, including in the seven boroughs of New York. EVERYONE in Hong Kong seems to live in a high rise.