Shangri-La Shenzhen

... fishing village has exploded into a large city of 8 million people with modern looking skyscrapers of emerald green glass and steel flanking the wide intersections. By night they compete further with showcase lighting; entire top storeys, apexes and spherical roof structures incandescently floodlit from within like futuristic beacons. One deco inspired sky scraper has two jutting masts either end of the roof set on round plinths ...

Mark's visa was about to expire, making it necessary to make one last trip outside of Taiwan. We had intended to go to the Philippines, Guam, Indonesia, or Pulau, but the expense of travelling to those destinations sent us to Hong Kong instead, this time with the intention of actually entering the city.<br><br>We departed at night for the SEZ of Hong Kong and landed in the dark about an hour and a half later. Though everyone directed us to take the airport ...

... Zoological and Botanical Gardens. We said our "goodbyes" to George before heading off to take the ferry to Discovery Bay to meet up with some friends and acquaintances of Suzy's who live there. We met everyone in a bar and once again started drinking, followed by a delicious Thai meal in a restaurant owned by another friend of Suzy. After dinner, we headed back to the bar to consume yet more alcohol and watch a rugby match on TV before heading ...

... in the translation! Peter, alias Jackie Chan, returned with printed photos including a picture of us on a souvenir plate. Weird, just weird. If he had offered the photos on a small memory stick I would have bought them, but this is still a traditional tourist trap. A terse Terri then loaded ...

... that is unique to Tai O... Wing on Street, not far from the bus terminus, is packed with exotic shops, stalls and some good seafood restaurants where you can have your dinner, before traveling back to Tung Chung Town, from where you can proceed to the airport (see instructions above). <br> <br>For your information: The last bus departs from "the Big Buddha" to Tai O at 5:15pm (weekdays) or 6:30pm (weekends). <br><br>Bus No. 11 ...

... though. I had a little less than an hour and was expecting to race through the huge airport, but to my surprise an agent with a sign was waiting at our gate, let me to a little golf cart and wizzed me to my new gate, with plenty of time to spare... Now, I'll be even more miserable, the next time I fly in the US...

Lieve mensen! Duzend maal excuses voor mijn lakse schrijfgedrag maar het is hier een en al hectiek en fun dus ik heb nu eindelijk pas tijd om me een uurtje voor de pc te installeren om jullie een mega-update te geven. Sinds de laatste en eerste keer dat ik jullie heb geschreven is er gigaantisch veel gebeurd dus moet nu heel diep in mn koppie gaan graven om het er allemaal levendig uit te halen, maar laten we beginnen bij het begin. Na de intro week waarin ik al zoveel nieuwe mensen heb ...

... including a nighttime view of the ocean looking over at Hong Kong, as well as parts of the city we would not otherwise have seen - all very modernized and serving to further the economic development of the city and country as a whole. Shenzhen's growth is recent enough that their infrastructure is quite impressive, so driving down the streets, one could almost think we were on a freeway in a ...

... s hat on, I would say they are totally due to a lack of definition of roles and responsibilities. That can be tied back to the fact that there's no published set of objectives or organisational strategy and very little obvious executive power being exercised. That sort of clinical clarity of definition doesn't really apply to Chinese life though. As far as I can figure it out, the fundamental difference in approach is the fact that the ...