snapshots of Asia

I'm back at the Internet cafe in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong. Blogging about my travels has turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated. Whether it's a question of access as in mainland China or just time to type, it has been challenging. At the same time, arriving in Korea I haven't recorded very much in my journal. Just been so busy. I might have to compose more detailed posts about my summer abroad when I return home.

I leave for Macau, the former Portuguese outpost, tomorrow morning. It's a short ferry ride from Kowloon.

Below are a couple of snapshots from my travels in Asia. Not much as most of my photographs were taken in RAW and it takes too much effort to see if I can convert them here.

Snapped yesterday, this is a classic shot of the financial and commerical center of Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbor from atop Victoria Peak. The view is stunning at night. Truly, one of the world's great and most captivating port cities.

Traveling in China via train during the peak summer season can be sure craziness: 90 plus heat and humidity, millions of domestic travelers, no respect for the queue, and this year's Shanghai expo. The inability to find a ticket not even a standing ticket on certain routes has forced me to fly twice. I snapped this a few days ago in Hanghzou. With no luck, I flew from there to Hong Kong.

I learned that in China practically everyone owns a seal engraver, which imprints their signature. This is used for finalizing documents and other important transactions. While in Shanghai, I purchased one and had my name engraved in Chinese. I'm thinking about using this to mark the back of the Harlem River photographs that I sell.

This was taken of me when I was still in Busan, South Korea, by my friend, Chris. We attended a baseball game that night with a colleague of his. Late in the game, the Lotte Giants' fans were given orange plastic bags to which the fans instinctively blew air into them, tied them, and then wrapped the handles of the bags around their ears so they rested on the head. It was a bizarre, hilarous experience. Thousands of merry fans singing Giants chants were proudly donning these pumpkin-like bags on their heads. I couldn't imagine a scene like this in the States. Supposedly, this is done to encourage fans to pick up their own trash after the game. Funny and smart.

This may be my last post until I'm in Vietnam assuming Blogger and other sites, like Facebook, are accessible. Speaking of Vietnam, on Sunday it and the US demonstrated the strengthening of military ties to regional states, notably China.