:mattLandia:

Work today went as well as expected. I spent the afternoon helping to install and set up the software needed for the class that starts tomorrow. Our Hong Kong office is nice enough I suppose, but an office is an office is an office. You know?

After work, and in spite of the torrential rain, I grabbed my camera and headed out for a bit of walking. Lots of the stuff I've read on tourism here suggests that one can't visit here without taking advantage of the cheap costs of tailoring. I decided that I would explore the Kowloon district and find myself a tailor. My reading also indicated that a reasonable price would be as little as $100 to $200. I took the subway over to Kowloon, which is across the bay from Hong Kong central, and spent a few hours walking around and window shopping before settling on a place called "Bobby's Fashions". Nick, the shop guy, was super pleasant and we didn't haggle much. He actually comes to Atlanta from time to time to fit his clients in the US. Said that he actually fitted the football coach from GA Tech. Small world. I settled on a $150 suit made with 150 count fabric, and I'll pick it up on thursday. We'll see how it turns out.

On the whole, HK reminds me a lot of Tokyo, but seems slightly off kilter due the amount of English that is spoken everywhere. It is also a little off putting to see really old, tenament style buildings interspersed with gleaming glass buildings that were built recently.

This place is truly a hive of activity. It's hard to stop and snap a decent pic while standing still, because you get jostled from all sides by other pedestrians who move along at a brick clip. I did manage to snap a few during a break in the rain, but I hope the weather breaks so I can get a few more tomorrow.