Hong Kong

Day 1

We insisted on leaving for the airport early at 7AM, to Andrea's intense dismay. Between trouble loading the car (despite having an SUV, there was not enouh space for all of us and the luggage so Zachary sat in Joshua's lap all the way to Metro), construction, and a traffic jam from an accident we needed all the time we had.

Our flight to Chicago was uneventful. The flight to Hong Kong was long; 15 hours with a crying baby much of the time. Joshua complained and we pointed out that he was sometimes none too considerate of those around him. He wasn't buying it.
Our friend Li Feng's flight from Beijing arrived near the same time that ours did and she met us at baggage claim. It is really good to have friends.

We checked into the hotel and it was beautiful. Hong Kong was hot and humid but the lobby was like a walk in refrigerator with marble, a huge modern chandelier, elegant furniture, and a helpful concierge. Our room overlooked the harbor.

We got settled and went to dinner. We walked about 10 blocks to a nice Malaysian restaurant. Nasi Goreng, Roti Canai, Gato Gado. We were in heaven.

After dinner we walked to the harbor and looked at the stunning skyline. I made a a conscious decision not to  bring my camera, just packing a point and shoot, because the family gets upset when I dawdle to set up a shot and this vacation is about family not about my photography, but I regretted the decision when I had no tripod, a low performance camera, and a really great scene.

Back in the hotel, I took some Melatonin and we went to sleep early, since we'd only managed a few hours of sleep in the last 30 hours. I woke at 2am with a horrible pain in my leg. I limped to the batthrooom, went back to sleep, and woke again at 4 at which point Andrea gave me 2 ibuprofen. I was worried about the next day, but by morning the pain was just a bit of stiffnes.