[Travel Day: Hong Kong (HKG) > San Francisco (SFO)]

Left the hotel at 9:30am, took a cab to the airport.  Flight crossing the Pacific was uneventful (the best kind), and faster than anticipated (only 11:44 flight time).  I slept for as much as I could--which is my eastbound jetlag-mitigation tactic.

Got home, ran down my "honey-do" list (some phone calls), and headed out for a bike ride.  Since the nanny's car is in the shop and she's using my car to shuttle the kids; I ended up riding my Specialized Tarmac road bike instead of my Cervelo P2K.  Reason is that when riding "from home", I have to negotiate a two-lane twisty, with plenty of traffic and a lengthy (by my wimpy biking endurance standards) climb--both of which are more suitable to road bike-handling than my tri bike.

[Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui - Hung Hom]

Farewell to Hong Kong

Ah, my last full day in Hong Kong. Wrapping up loose ends, having lunch with some associates who I won't see for a 6 months, etc.

I'll say one thing about Hong Kong, and that is the people here are seriously some of the most industrious of any peoples that inhabit this earth. There is definitely a materialistic undercurrent (and a strong one at that), but it isn't necessarily an ugly one (like Los Angeles at its worst). And the place runs like a well-oiled machine, from the Octopus Cards (we need this in the States!), to the MTR (subway), to the Bus system, etc.

The weather has been unusually cold (40's-50's); which is considered "freezing" in the normally very warm Hong Kong. The warm mid-70's weather made only a short appearance for the Marathon weekend (lucky me).

It's been a nice stay, but I miss my wife and kids alot. I just spoke with the nanny and kids this morning on the phone (9:00am local is 5:00pm the previous evening in SF), and Jordan my 7-yr old was so excited because she had just successfully completed her Math Challenge test for the first time (40 problems in under 2 minutes--she did it in 1'40"). She had been having problems a few weeks ago completing the 40 problems in 3 minutes; and was getting 20-30% wrong. What a turnaround! I was so excited as a father can only be!

Oh, I wish tomorrow were here already so I could board my flight....

Wheel-o-Rama

Some of you may be wondering what on earth I'm doing selling my used, like-new HED 3 wheelset that I just received.

Well, the answer is, I came across a deal I couldn't refuse this mint-conditioned Powertap SL, built into a Zipp 460 carbon clincher rim (essentially a Zipp 404 done-up by a wheelbuilder.com):

I know I won't have an "aero" front wheel, but now I have an aero-rear with powermeter. It was a trade-off I was willing to make.

I can't afford to keep both, so the HED 3's are on the block...

[Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui - Hung Homg - Central - Jordan]

Spent the morning in the office doing admin stuff, then headed to the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center (HKCEC) in Wan Chai to run through the convention--running into friends, associates, customers, etc. Returned to the office to tie up loose ends before heading back to the hotel.

Hit the gym by about 6:45pm, and decided to do a mini-brick just for kicks. Finished my workout just as my brother Vic arrived to start his workout. He was heading out for drinks with friends afterwards; which I wasn't interested in doing. Instead, took the MTR (subway) to the Jordan station to do some knick-knack shopping at the Temple St. Night Market for the kids, nanny, and friends.

On the way home, I realized that I was starving having forgotten to eat any dinner. So, arriving back in Tsim Sha Tsui I grabbed a quick bite at my favorite kebab/gyro joint, Ebeneezer's Middle-Eastern & Indian Restaurant. The small place was packed at 9:15pm, so I grabbed my order to go and ate back at the hotel.

[Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui - Hung Hom]

Was pretty wiped out after a day at the office, and was planning on just heading back to the hotel and putting my feet up, and reading a few chapters of my current read Inside the Postal Bus (an inside look at the 2004 US Postal cycling team, and Lance Armstrong's sixth TdF victory) by Michael Barry. Having just finished Martin Dugard's book Chasing Lance (chronicling his seventh TdF victory from the perspective of a sportswriters and fans looking in), Barry's book offers a fascinating perspective from the inside looking out.

Anyway, my brother Vic surprisingly was suiting up to head out to the Pacific Club, and I was hit with guilt pangs of laziness...so I tagged along and got in a 1500m swim. There was some jerk of an older gentleman swimming breast stroke next to me and was unable (or unwilling) to swim over his lane marker (there aren't any lane dividers like at my Club's pool)--rather he kept gravitating towards my lane marker--and every time we passed he would almost kick me, and his wake/bow-wave would wash right into breathing cycle.  I would have said something, but being a guest of my friend Tony H. at this posh athletic club, I felt it wisest to keep my trap shut.

I guess it wasn't all bad, however, as it was sort of intro into the washing-machine wave starts of triathlon.

[Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui - Hung Hom]

 [Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui - Central]

05:23 Good morning! I'm up, dressed, and off to the 1/2M start. ;)

18:42 Watching highlights of today's race(s) on tv now (TVB Pearl). After getting back from the 1/2-mary, went to the Pacific Club to get in a short swim, then played some serious table tennis with my brother. Had some lunch, then came back to put my feet up (literally--did the raised legs up on the wall thing for about 20 min.). Just got around to editing some of the photos from the race and posted the above.

[Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui - Cheung Sha Wan]

Woke this morning around 7:30p, after a glorious night's sleep. Finally sleeping through the entire night!

Vic took off to Macau last night with Tony and some buddies, to hang out, have dinner, and do some gambling at the new Wynn casino. Apparently, Macau has surpassed Las Vegas in total revenue! That's no small feat! Anyway, Vic didn't get back home until 8:00am this morning--having missed his midnight boat home.

Yesterday after lunch, I met fellow BT'er, Denise K (aka Celeb_ithil) at the Standard Chartered Overseas Registration at the Hotel Miramar. Good thing I called her when I got to the desk or she might be still waiting in front of the closed, upstairs admin office! (Just kidding DK!) Anyway, we had a nice time chatting while registering and will meet up tommorrow pre-race.

Had Dim Sum this morning, with Vic, Eling & Mr K (and their daughter) here in TST (again in the One Peking Rd buildling). It was pretty good. It blows away anything that can be found at home, and we can find some pretty good Dim Sum in SF.

Afterwards, not having much to do this Saturday afternoon, I went to seek out the Flying Ball Bicycle Co. in Cheung Sha Wan (about 6 MTR stops north of TST) to check out the hardware. They had some nice bikes--road, tri, and mountain. They had pretty much everything you could find at say a Colorado Cyclist. Anyway, I did come away with a nice new bike jersey (50% off), new Zoot Sports tri shorts (50% off), a new Fizik Arione Tri saddle (US$ 100), two disc-wheel adapters (aka crack pipes for my HED 3's), and a Bento Box for my bike....