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Flying from Sydney, the pilot had warned us to expect thundershowers in Hong Kong. As we approached, we were could see that the typical British understatement approach to
life had been transferred to Australians along with the prisoners. If these were thundershowers, what does he call a monsoon? It was pouring so bad that you could not tell the sky from the sea as we approached the
new airport in Hong Kong. Everything was the deep pea green you see in big rainstorms. We hoped there were more instruments upstairs than had been on our seaplane. As you likely know, the pilots sit over the front
section on 747s so we kept a watchful eye on the ceiling for any new yellow or brown stains as we went in for our landing. It turned out to be a smooth landing.
 We were staying in the Mandarin, rated one of the best (or the best) hotels in
the world by many observers. Its service is legendary. We were met at the gate by a representative who told us that we would be met by their transfer staff
as soon as we cleared customs. We got our bags and went to their desk where they took the bags and escorted us downstairs to a waiting area while our car was brought around. Did we mention it was raining? When we got to the hotel,
the staff greeted us by name at the front door and immediately escorted us to a very nice room where we completed the registration forms and enjoyed a pot of Chinese tea in the privacy of
our own hotel room. A very pleasant welcome to the city, even though the weather did not look too hopeful and was not expected to improve.
 We started the next day with a walking tour of the central city. It was
very hot and muggy and there were constant rain showers. Larry was amazed at all of the new buildings that had gone up in the four years since his last visit. The skyline continues to change at a rapid pace with
every architect trying to outdo the others with new shapes and designs.
 The new Convention center was built right out in the harbor as the city moved
further into the bay. The Mandarin used to be at the waterfront and it is now a good block away. The same thing has happened in Kowloon where the venerable Peninsula hotel
has lost its waterfront status with huge buildings in front of it built on new landfill.  Interspersed with all of the new buildings were some of the
remaining colonial buildings that had been recycled for new use. We had a great view of some of this from our balcony, which overlooked the old Supreme Court building that is now the home
of the local legislature for Hong Kong, a separate administrative area within China. One of the main differences from previous trips was seeing the Chinese flag on all of the buildings rather than the Union Jack.
 We did a little shopping in both some of the side streets, where
the stalls were slightly larger than a phone booth, and in Shanghai Tang, a local store (with a branch in New York).   Arnie got a new friend, Lee, here and they
immediately tried a little international cross dressing as you can see with the before and after pictures.
 We took off for Kowloon on the Star Ferry the next morning. Earlier in
the trip one of the travelers we had met groused about how the Japanese had now ruined Hong Kong. We could see what he meant with the high-end European shops everywhere in Hong Kong but were surprised to see that
Nathan Road, the main shopping street in Kowloon is starting to go the same way. Many of the little shops where you had to bargain for everything have given way to the usual range of
boutiques. Just like Hawaii. It strikes us as very weird to travel around the world just to shop in a store that you can find in any major city. Enough already of the editorial, let's get back to the travelogue.
 We got off of the main streets and found some interesting little stores.
Gisele found some new shoes as her old ones were now beyond repair. However, we saved our main shopping run for China Arts and Crafts (CAC) by the ferry terminal. The prices were good, the selection varied, and we
could haul the loot back to the hotel easily. We got a good selection of clothing and some carved stone animals. Gisele got a chop engraved for
Arnie – he'll now be able to sign things himself. We had a chance to watch the engraver, as you can see. Larry found a portfolio of 100 Chinese coins that went back to
200 BC and had representative examples up to China today. Unusual and cheap which is hard to find in Hong Kong today.
 Once again heavy thundershowers came in the late afternoon. This
was disappointing, as we had hoped to take the tram to the top of Victoria Peak and look at the vista. However, as you can see by some of the landscape photos of Hong Kong, the clouds never even
revealed the peak during our stay so this is on a future agenda. The weather was very muggy and long walks got us wet in more ways than one. We were hoping for better weather in Bangkok.
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