Hong Kong: The Final Chapter Begins

Epic title for a not-so-epic post. I really just wanted to update the blog and let everyone know that we safely arrived back in Hong Kong and are currently awake at 6-something AM to tell you about it. Yay.

The only real point of interest is that this will be our last stint in Hong Kong (thank tian) and that come 18 May we will be back in the good old US of A to stay. Well, we'll stay for as long as it suits us. No promises, folks. I am not a fortune teller.

What I can tell, though, is that I am hoping to hear back from Duke University with an offer of admission within the next three months. Alternative schools include Riverside and Utah, but Duke is probably the best option given the bent of my work. If that ends up being the case then, yes, we will be staying in the old country for at least another four years.

That is the possible future, though, and in the present we are back in Hong Kong. So, how is it? Well, as I expected it's another case of "the more things change the more they stay the same," by which I mean tons of construction. Everywhere. At all hours. Perhaps the epitome of this saying can be viewed next door, where a bakery chain is undergoing renovations. Their sign? "Coming soon: Maxim's Bakery." Yes, that's right, something that was already there is coming soon.

Let's set that paradox aside, though, and look at the bright side (there's always a bright side, right?), upon which we find that the construction along the path I like to run in the morning has mostly been cleared up, so hooray for no more crazy dodging traffic to cross the road. Also, it's winter, or what passes for winter in Hong Kong, which means we can wear clothes again...for a while, anyway. So hurrah for all of that.

This is a Colin blog, though, which means I must kvetch about something. The topic of today's kvetch? Air Canada. You know, I thought dealing with Air Canada would be like dealing with most Canadians which means an intelligent, considerate exchange of ideas while maintaining respect for one another's humanity and holding a friendly demeanor. Yeah, no. Although the lovely 777 was probably the most comfortable flight I've been on since Lufthansa with regard to my back (which doesn't say much but I'll give credit where it's due) we were treated to the most vile food I think I've ever been served on an airplane. Do you want the rundown? No? Too bad, you're getting it anyway.

First off, the snacks: pretzels. Pretzels are a pretty standard snack on airlines since peanuts were banned due to allergies. Although I continue to miss those awesome, roasted legumes I do love pretzels so it's a change I warily accepted. Air Canada is like most airlines in this regard yet they have added a strange twist (no pun intended) to their mini pretzels: fat-free artificial butter flavoring. Now, as a health nut you might think I wouldn't be too terribly offended by the fact that the flavoring adds no fat content (although who knows what chemicals it puts in your body?). I also like my food to taste good, though, and I've never seen the point of putting butter on much anything, least of all baked mini-pretzels. Although I eventually got over the weirdness of it, I cannot help but be put-off by the unnecessary additive. Still, this was probably the best thing we were given to eat.

Next was lunch: pork. I should have known things were going downhill when they were less than half-way through the lunch service and already out of options for what you would get. A lunch tray was dropped before me with some run-of-the-mill Chinese pork dish for me to eat. To their credit, it still tasted better than what you get at most diners in Hong Kong. On the downside I had no poultry option and the salad they served, although flavorful, was just too small. I guess the chocolate cake dessert was okay? I don't really know, it was all pretty generic.

The mid-flight snack: Cup Noodles (yes, the ramen brand), a roast beef nano-baguette (I say nano because it was too small to be "mini" and, being Canadian, included mayonnaise for no good reason), and a little bran biscuit thingy. Once again, the smallest item was probably the tastiest (and healthiest). I don't think I need to tell you how I feel about mayo, so I'll just say that the nano tasted like something out of Lunchables box. I haven't eaten Lunchables since I was in elementary school, and there's a reason for that. As for the Cup Noodles, well, I think you all understand why I don't like clogging my body with all that crap. To this day I have yet to understand how they even get 13 grams of fat and over 300 calories into a container of noodles and broth and why anyone would want to eat it. Yet I did. Now I am sick and probably should work-out more.

Finally, breakfast: I did not have breakfast. After the Cup Noodles I could not bring myself to eat anything else. The options were congee (which is blander than grits) and cheese omelette, neither of which appeal to me. I said "No thank you," and contented myself with much needed orange juice to re-hydrate. Carina ate some breakfast and said it was pretty awful. I'll take her word for it.

So, what did we learn? Well, we learned that Air Canada's food sucks and should be consumed only by bacteria capable of breaking down the most complex compounds and converting them into substances that would actually benefit rather than poison humans. Next time out we will be picking up our own foods to eat and avoiding the in-flight fare (unless it's actually good which is unlikely) as well as the in-flight upset stomachs. Seriously, I haven't felt that ill since I was a kid and ate all of my Halloween candy in one night. Ugh!

That aside, it's nice to be down and resting. Today we need to finish organizing the apartment and do a little food shopping. That means taking inventory of both our stores and our cash. Hopefully we've amassed enough to avoid any potential problems. I guess we'll see. Until then, we remain faithfully yours.

Hearts, stars, and horseshoes,

Colin