| Up at 6am, getting ready for the drive to the Pittsburgh airport. Of course, packing was ongoing until 2am, so it was a short night. This trip was really a last minute thing. In the space of one week, it went from a dare by my old army buddy about joining him for a trip to China, to driving to Washington, DC for the required Chinese visa, booking of a flight from Pit to Hong Kong, via Detroit and Tokyo with a return from Beijing to Detroit and then Pit; all for $550 US. I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this. It was hard to grasp that it would actually cost less to fly half-way around the world, than it would have been to go to Lisbon, a mere 6 hours from New York. From Pittsburgh to Hong Kong the flight time was almost 20 hours. This was my first time at the Detroit Airport; great new terminal with an indoor overhead people mover. Automated, computer controlled transit systems have recently been spreading around the world, mostly modeled on the PRT system built at WVU in the 1970's. Funny how it is so easy to take for granted what is part of one's routine. The Detroit to Tokyo flight was on a NW Boeing 747-400. Departed at 15:30ET; by 21:20ET we were flying over the Alaskan wild mountain peaks, just amazing sight. Touched down in Tokyo at 4:35amUS ET; 17:35 local; about 13 hours flight time. Plane transfer to terminal via bus; we actually had to walk down steps and set foot on Japanese land. Customs, passport and other airport formalities, walk across terminal to another gate; little more than one hour spent in Japan. Outside it's night time and a pounding rain. Another NW 747, on to Hong Kong, 4 hours flight time. Arrived Hong Kong airport 23:30 local time; it is now 12 hours earlier or 1:30pm in the Eastern US. From the new HK airport, I boarded the express train to downtown, 24 minutes, about 20miles and 100$HK or about $8.50US. Will be returning here latter, for now it's straight to Macau where I will be staying for a couple of days. My travel party is already there. Ferries run 24 hours a day, 220$HK buys a ticket for a one hour ferry ride across the Pearl River Delta to Macau. Seat belts are mandatory, these are fast boats, actually Jetfoils, built by Boeing. Amazingly these things were built in the USA, and I do not know of any single one being operated commercially in America, it's a shame. Macau is the gambling ground for Hong Kong residents. At the pier one can book a simple ticket across the delta, or an entire "escorted' experience to the gambling city. I arrived Macau in the middle of the night, the best time to see what is now essentially the premier activity of this former Portuguese Territory. I visited Casino Lisboa and the Sands, experienced the crowds, listened to some bands and spent nothing. By 5:30am I was waiting for the sunrise at the highest point in the territory. Amazingly people were out practicing Tai Chi and other physical exercise even before 4:30am. The Macau territory is much smaller than Hong Kong, and seems like a provincial city in comparison. But there are some great parks and everywhere there are these exercise machines, being used. The temperature was in the 70F, breezy and somewhat humid. This is Southeast Asia. It had taken me almost 36 hours to get to this place, but back home it was 12 hours earlier. After Macau I traveled back for another visit to Hong Kong; then it was on to Guangzhou, Xian and Beijing. Several days after arriving in Beijing I had my camera stolen in a busy street. I must give credit to the authorities, throughout Beijing signs do warn travelers to "be mindful of they possessions". The worst outcome of this event was that all the pictures taken between Hong Kong and Beijing were lost because they were all in the camera. Moral, "be mindful of your possessions' and be aware of the negative aspects of using large memory e-cards. Lost over 600 irreplaceable shots. No two people see the exact same thing, nor have the same experiences. For illustrative purposes, the linked photo galleries contain some photos taken by my traveling companions and some others that I have borrowed from others' web galleries. It has taken me longer to put together the tale of this trip than to do it. Since then, many things will undoubtedly be different. | 
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