January 15, 2010: $42 Isn't Exactly $42 When You're In Hong Kong

Last night, after Ross and I spent the day separately -- I hit the last day of the Hong Kong Toy Fair, while Ross took a much-needed break and enjoyed the city -- we wandered back into the streets of Hong Kong to find dinner. After taking the ferry from Wan Chai to Kowloon -- $2.50 HKD, which equals $0.32 in U.S. currency -- we found a shopping mall with a food court. And what awesome food! It was like any food court in a US shopping mall . . . if US shopping malls had food courts packed with authentic and fantastic Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, and Indian food. I settled on beef teriyaki with rice and, after paying my $42 ($5.41 U.S.), I sat down for the best meal of the trip. I guess the secret to great food in Hong Kong is to get out of the tourist districts and find where the locals eat. Cheaper and tastier.

Next on my list is a meeting at my hotel with the same factory rep I tried to meet on Thursday (I mentioned this meeting in Thursday's Daily Illuminator entry). I never did make it to the factory office; from taxi to subway to taxi, I couldn't find anyone willing to take me to a destination that didn't appear on any of my maps of Hong Kong. After far too much time wandering, I returned to the hotel and made arrangements to just meet in the lobby. I would have loved to have seen their offices, but I can't spend my last day in Hong Kong searching for an office when the rep is more than willing to come to me.

After the meeting, that's it for work. I am going to spend the afternoon sightseeing and shopping. Most likely I'll grab a few more toys and try to fit them into my already overflowing suitcases, and then Ross and I plan to meet at 6 and then go out for dinner! Where are we going? The exact same place we went last night, of course!

-- Phil Reed