tough day

Today was a long day as I had to get into work ultra early because I had calls with some folks in Europe.  You would think that with a 7 hour time difference, people could take a call at 10am our time and 5pm their time.  A little inconvienent maybe, but come on.  I was in the office by 630am this morning.  Then, to make matters worse, I had a meeting that lasted late.  What a day.

The worse of it was coming home to take my daughter to the allergist.  We have been having problems with some foods, so we knew it was time to check it out.  Here is the picture of her back...

It broke my heart.  she screamed through the whole process.  The worst case came true.  My daughter is allergic to peanuts and milk.  I am sure we will adjust, but this makes it hard as we now have to make sure she does not come into contact with either of these two items.  If you click on the picture, you can see 2 large swollen spots.  These are where she was exposed to those two allergens.  

Last thoughts

Well, you have seen much of what I saw while I was in China.  I have one additional video that I will upload later this week on my visit to McDonalds, but that will take some time that I don't have tonight.  Here is a simple video.  It comes with a challenge.  Who can identify the one american company that is operating in this city?  You will have to look closely at all of the advertising signage to pick it out, but I am sure someone will...

So I was exhausted, my body clock was 13 hours off, and I hadn't seen my family in a week at this point.  I just wanted to be home.  I was done with the indoor smoking, chicken heads, and the odd recycling customs of China.  I just wanted to get on the plane close my eyes, wake up 15 hours later, and be in Chicago.  

That is where it got interesting.  I am always told to be at the airport 2 hours early.  I usually arrive 50 minutes before the flight.  I am the really friendly guy who is always apologizing as the gate agent is walking me to the front of the security line as my flight is waiting.  And, of course, I am also that guy that gets on the plane last, takes that middle seat that others thought was going to be empty and providing them extra room on the flight.  i then proceed to open every overhead bin in hopes of putting my full size suitcase above my seat only to realize that even with no suitcases up there, mine would not fit.  I then proceed to email off my blackberry until the stewardess yells at me for the 3rd time, and then I figure out that she is serious.

Anyway, I tried to pull the same think at Hong Kong International Airport.  No one told me that just like their cities, their airports are roughly 10x the size of american airports.  I had my usual escort through security and customs thanks to a United First Class ticket.  I was then pointed in the direction of my flight.  They just smiled.  I thought it was because she thought I was cute or maybe she was just nervous that she didn't speak english.  Either way, I was flattered.  I rounded the corner and realized why she had the smirk the size of the airport on her face.  This is the hallway that I saw as I turned the corner:

Yes, that was a legitimate hallway.  I had to make my flight, but I wasn't sure that the hallway ended.  I could not actually see the end of this hallway.  I went back and tried to ask the lady how to actually get to my flight, because there was no way that this was real.  She laughed and claimed not to understand a word I was speaking.  I am not sure if this was the picture or not.  I have a couple of pictures of these long airport hallways from my travels.  For some reason, people overseas don't understand that we Americans don't like to walk miles to our planes.  No joke, there is hallway at least this long in Europe also.  

Anyway, I got to my gate and the plane was delayed.  I had some time to waste, so I went to the airport lounge.  I informed the lady at the front desk that I needed anything that they had to eat that was american and could be eaten without the use of chop sticks.  Here is what she brought me at 9am in the morning:

I gorged myself on some rocky road ice cream and lemon lime flavored seltzer.  Not exactly American, but close enough.  

food and corrections...

First and foremost, I want to thank my wife for opening up what used to be a semi-private blog that I was able to vent my feelings on without too much exposure.  Ever since she posted it on her facebook page, I have realized that many eyes have gazed upon my most private a thought.  I hope I don't bore you, but then again, I don't write this for you.  It is a simple way to clear my head of the oddities and discrepancies I find in daily life, and some meandering childhood memories that I sprinkle in the middle.  Please enjoy the blog, and if you don't, go waste your time somewhere else.

Okay, I have gotten numerous emails today regarding the Lobster on the recycle sign.  I am sorry, but for all of you that thought it was a red jacket, you are wrong.  You have probably heard many wrong things about China, but let me clear a few things up.  Yes, they are generally shorter than us.  Yes, they do smoke much more than us.  But, come on, they don't have four arms.  Why would they have jackets that have fours arms???  Then again, maybe you are all right, I would recycle my jacket if every time I went to put it on I had the choice of 4 arms.  Anyway, its a lobster!

So the next clarification is on the food.  Some people have thought that everything was like the chicken heads.  Well, here are a couple of pictures of some other meals I ate while I was over there.  This was a classic sushi meal.  It is Japanese, but for as much as the Chinese and Japanese don't seem to like each other, they do seem to enjoy each other's food!

The next meal is a picture that I was hoping someone could at least help me identify.  It somewhat resembles the recycling can image, so that scares me a little.  It was actually pretty good so I am not going to knock it too much.  

But, that is enough about the food. How about the drink you ask??  Well, I have a good story on this one.  I was in Hong Kong for meetings and they happened to be at Walt Disney World Hong Kong.  Strange place I know, but it was interesting nonetheless.  For all of you who will ask, Mickey looks the same, the park is smaller, and yes, the Chinese love the park.  Hopefully, that answers all of the dumb questions.  

So for those of you who do not know my wife, I will let you in on a little secret, she loves the Mouse.  It was a little scary in the beginning, but I have come to accept it.  I only have to wear the mouse ears once and a while and, well, nevermind...

Back to the story, I was at Disney Hong Kong and I knew I could not come home without some cheap, imported (well, probably not imported) souvenir.  So, I went down to visit Pocahontas as the gift store and she offers me a beer.  No joke.  Strangest thing I have ever seen.  A chinese woman, dressed as Pocahontas, in Disneyland, in Hong Kong, offers me a beer at check out.

So that is not the best part, here is a picture of the San Miguel Cerveza she offered me:

Only in China.  This is an authentic pull tab beer.  You know the one.  Of course, many won't remember this because it was outlawed in the US over 20 years ago.  Yes, for safety reasons we decided more than 2 decades ago to not take a chance of losing human life due to an inferior product design.  I remember these cans very well.  Please take a trip down memory lane with me...

My father drank Budweiser.  In fact, I am not sure he drank anything else short of coffee.  He was as loyal to a product as you could ever be.  I remember sitting on his lap while he mowed the backyard and he drank Budweiser the whole time.  Now, as an adult, I am not sure I would get on anyone's lap, while they are drink beer, sitting on top of a razor sharp blade spinning at 1,000 rpms!  Anyway, he would drink Bud, with the pull tabs.  He would discard the pull tabs right into the backyard.  Now, back then, no one worried that they could be shot out of the lawn mower at 500mph and the shrapnel could de-head someone.  Or, slightly less gory, a kid could trip and maim themselves on the sheared aluminum can.  Anyway, I just remember those pull tabs from those hot summer days.  The good thing is all the young children in China will still be able to create those memories with their parents.