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Regrets? Nah.

Saturday, March 31st, 2007

Ok, I don’t have pictures up yet because this internet cafe doesn’t have USB cable but last night after the Rugby matches I met with a few Scots and English guys and we headed out to this pub for drinks. They were really cool but a bit rowdy. Some of the Scots even had kilts on. They traveled to Hong Kong specifically for the rugby event and the Scots got beat pretty badly by Fiji.

At about 1am we headed off to another bar and on the way there was a tattoo parlor. One of the guys had gotten a tattoo the previous year at the same place and said it was good. Most of you that know me understand that I don’t like tattoos but with the energy of the day and the excitement for traveling maybe my head was a little foggy. The 2-3 pints of Guinness probably didn’t help. We all went in and got different tattoos. I went with a half lion and half dragon on my right arm that has a tail that wraps up to my shoulder blade. I got the lion because I am a LEO and the dragon since I am in Asia, specifically China and it has a lot of meaning. I am the year of the monkey in China but I thought a half monkey half lion would look silly. I have to go back today and tomorrow to get it finished. It is really big but it looks pretty cool!!!! It surprisingly didn’t hurt too much but I’m not sure if that was the Guinness again.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh mom is gonna KILL ME!

I guess there is no point in regretting it now.

Posted in Hong Kong, Travel | 1 Comment »

USA! USA! USA!

Saturday, March 31st, 2007

The first night in Hong Kong was pretty strange. I decided to move to a different guest house seeing as though there was a sign above the elevator on my floor that said “NO JEWS, USA OR UK” so I figured I wasn’t wanted there so it was time to find a new place. After getting moved in I immediately headed for Victoria Peak or known to locals as “The Peak”. It is the hill directly behind the business district of Hong Kong Island that overlooks the entire city. There is a lot to do once you get to the top by tram. I played a game of Madden and NHL 2007 for Xbox 360 at the Electronic Arts Experience, had japanese iced tea at a coffee shop and wandered around the shopping area. I eventually made my way out to the viewing terrace and took a few shots. It was an incredibly cloudy day so it didn’t make for very good photos but it added to the ambience of view if you aren’t concerned about a camera.

View from The Peak during the day.

I headed back to my hotel and called Sathi who is a member of couchsurfing.com. Couch surfing is a website dedicated to helping the budget traveler find places to sleep for free. You put your profile up, offer what you can and host people who are passing through your city. I am a member in Tampa however I don’t have a couch to offer so I can only meet people for drinks or to guide them around for an afternoon. Sathi currently had a surfer at her place so I wasn’t able to stay with her but she invited me out for dinner and drinks with some other local couch surfers. We met with Jim, a Chinese guy who lives in New York City but lived most of his life in Canada who is moving to Hong Kong for work. And then there was Imran, a really dedicated member of couch surfing who is Pakistani born but transplanted to Hong Kong for most of his life. I love the mixed group we had and it made for very interesting conversation over dinner. We bounced around to a few places and eventually split up to go home. This was my first experience meeting people from couch surfing but I will definitely do it again.

Every year there is a huge Rugby tournament held in Hong Kong called the Hong Kong Sevens. They hold the same tournament in different cities around the world but this is the big one. I happened to be on the ferry that morning and noticed an entire team making their way to the main island. I couldn’t tell what country they were at first but I looked closely at one of their bags and it said “MADE FOR U.S. RUGBY”. I over heard one of them talking to a British guy about their match later that day. They played France and ended up beating them. As soon as I realized the situation I made it a point to at least find a bar to watch the matches, hopefully with other Americans so I can support our team. I don’t know the first thing about Rugby but I can’t pass up a sporting event like this.

I took towards Hong Kong Stadium this afternoon and within 30 seconds I was approached with tickets. I overpaid slightly but it was sold out and figured this was the best I could get. I made my way inside the stadium and joined in the festivities.

Tunisia was playing France when I first sat down.

I asked a few people for the rundown on this tournament and it works a lot like the World Cup except it is condensed into 3 days. Today was the 2nd day of group play and U.S.A. was in a difficult group with Australia, France and Tunisia. We beat France yesterday and lost to Australia today and would need to beat Tunisia to advance through to Sunday’s final rounds. These rugby matches are very short. Two 7 minute halves and then the next 2 teams immediately start playing their match. The atmosphere was pretty electric. I have never experienced international competition so the excitement was something new to me. I have been to plenty of college football games and hockey games and they all have their own things that make them fun. I won’t say this was better or worse, it was just different. The Aussie’s were by far the rowdiest, followed by England, Scotland and New Zealand. It was like one big costume party as lots of fans were dressed up. There were plenty of guys dressed in drag, girls dressed as bunnies, young girls dressed as old ladies, Scots in kilts and any other strange site you can think of.

USA FANS!

This kid was from Montana. I don’t think I have ever met someone from Montana while in the United States.

U.S.A. played at about 4:45pm and when they announced the teams and they came on to the field I was prepared for boo’s. Surprisingly the crowd was in full support of the United States. A small Chinese kid next to me with his mother kept chanting “U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!”. France was the only team that I heard a full crowd of boo’s when they scored. Tunisia scored first but missed the extra points and then U.S.A. went up 2 scores and finished off 14-5.

USA 14 – Tunisia 5

Budweiser representing overseas.

I’ll have another Heineken.

I asked this kid what team he represented and he said he was 45% Swedish and then stuttered for about 10 seconds and finally got out that he was 50% Scottish. The flag on his face was Scottish. Funny kid though.

Canada didn’t fair too well.

Posted in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel | No Comments »

Hong Kong Nights

Thursday, March 29th, 2007
After a pretty rough 12 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai I arrived in Bangkok this morning around 6am. Luckily my stomach held up pretty well. It was supposed to be a VIP bus but they pretty much ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel | 1 Comment »