Brief Update

So I'm two weeks out of uploading my blog posts.  I guess as amount of fun increases number of blog posts goes down, who woulda figured.  I did just upload a bunch of pictures to my picasa page.  Sometime tomorrow I will get to uploading everything. 

And Happy Fathers Day Dad!!! 

Day Seven: What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Seeing as I slept just about all of yesterday and barely got a quick dinner in with Mary at the Peak, today I would surely need to expel all of that reserved energy.  Being it is Sunday and sunny, the four of us went out for breakfast at Wagyu.  Alasdair commented on my particularity when it comes to food and all I could do was laugh.  He's learning my ways quite well.  I had the typical American breakfast: eggs, sausage, and toast with a glass of orange juice to wash it all down.  It was quite nice to have a taste of home.  But this was just the start of a great day. 
Mary and Alasdair were itching to go on a hike and I was glad to come along.  We made our way to the MacLehose Trail in the New Territories of Hong Kong.  The drive to our start point was just over an hour and once in the national park, we began our journey.  With Mary's hiking enthusiasm and Alasdair's never ending outdoors drive, I knew I was going to be in all sorts of interesting places on this hike.   We started out walking up a road which only taxis can take.  Apparently taxis are a way of cheating a bit, so no cheating for us today.  Once we get to our first trailhead, there was a sign warning of landslides, so we took the higher and less traveled route on the MacLehose Trail.  Let me put it this way, it was like walking through tall grass with a one foot wide piece of broke concrete to walk upon.  You could tell not many take this section of trail.  It was steep inclines, which I don't really mind, but the sections of steep declines, my body just doesn't like.  About 10 km through, we stopped at a local village for some fried rice before making our last section of trail.  The last part of the trail we walked had what I could call a never ending slope, I really thought I was going to be passing some folks bound for heaven.  But sure enough, the inline stopped and once again I had to go back down.  Mary and Alasdair pulled on my gullible side with saying we had to swim a mile back, but even I saw through that one.  I really think a swim would have been a nice ending the the hike.  All in all we hiked about 15 km (about ten miles).  A very good day, next time I just need to drink more.
Things to note:
I miss the humidity of New Orleans
Mary and Alasdair both think I should do a RTP race

Day Five: Nice Hotels in Hong Kong

We made our way to the Mandarin Oriental hotel after work today to attend the Unique Estates property showcase. There were some gorgeous properties there and trust me, Nicolette can sure entice anyone into thinking they can buy one of her properties.  I went for the wine and hors d'oeuvres.  I primarily socialized with the property agents that were more of my age, and the Australian accent was definitely growing on me.  The sheer popularity of such events surprises me.  But if you got the money, why not spend it? 
And it is a Friday evening, but I hear my bed it calling my name. 
Things learned today:
Private airstrip is a must.

Day Four: Mr LeBeau is coming back to haunt me.

So another normal day at the office, a not so normal evening.  Mary and I arrived home shortly before seven as she and Alasdair were hosting a dinner party for some friends of theirs.  The first guests arrived around 7:30.  Nicolette and her boyfriend Andy sold Emerald Valley Villa to Mary and Alasdair recently.  Mr. LeBeau would have loved the conversation, as much of it had to do with geography and I didn't really try in his class.  Lots of talk about the real estate around Australia and I couldn't even point to anything else that continent besides Sydney.  The other couple to join in dinner was an old colleague of Alasdair's at Jardine Matheson.  Just about all of the conversation had to do with geography of some sort and I realized how much of a different track in life I am on.  Numbers are my thing, but not when it comes to finances.  At one point I was asked, "So Trey, is engineering just a degree and then you'll move onto investment banking?"  I thought he was joking, but apparently not.  Oh well.  Politics and gossip were on the table all evening.  I love gossip, but I had no clue what any of it was about.  But hey, I enjoyed everything they said and we even got a good discussion on why Obama is horrible, so the night had a great end to it.
Notes for today:
Read the finical section more in the paper.
Host more dinner parties.

Day Three: Caffeine Is a Must

Just another day at the office.   This morning I found out that when "no taxis are available" via phone, one can request to pay an additional HK$10 and there will be a taxi outside in four minutes.  Quite interesting how that works over here.  Mary pointed out some gyms I can join on the way to work.  One is called California Fitness with a three story high picture of Jackie Chan on its sign.  The other, slightly closer to work, Fitness First also boasts three stories but no gaudy Asian figures on their sign.  Upon arrival at work we were joking about the gyms here and the overall consensus was Fitness First. But working out will have to wait, I have to make it through my first week before I seriously think about working out.  Today's lunch with nothing special, just a turkey sandwich and a diet coke.  I should be exploring more, but wow does the jet take it out of you.  I did finally get on Skype and was able to say hi to Matthew, Chris, Mom, Dad, Blitz, and Behr.  It's truly different being over 8,000 miles and a couple hundred apart from home.  That sounds trivial, but being completely on the other side of the world makes it hard to get in touch with people.  Right as I'm ready to go to bed, everyone is waking up and right as everyone is able to talk in the evening, I am busy at work.  I now see why it's so hard to get in touch with Mary via phone.  Oh well, I'm rambling.  Tomorrow should bring some interesting conversation, dinner party here with a luxury real estate agent and a former coworker of Alasdair's.  Should be quite interesting.  
Things learned today:
I speak American and English.

Day Two: Jet Lag

I awoke this morning quite early, around 5:30 a.m.  Mary and I were scheduled to leave for the office at 7:30 and I had two hours to kill.  I wish I could say I went and did something productive, but I just mulled around, taking a bath and making myself a simple breakfast.  Mary was actually up getting some work done before I awoke, so it was a surprise seeing her up working as I mulled around.
Mary called a taxi and I was quite surprised at how fast a cab was at our front door.  It literally took less than five minutes for it to arrive.  Taxis are quite popular here and are quite cheap relative to the states.  We arrive at work a little early and she let me in the office.  RacingThePlanet is about to consolidate its two offices with their recent acquisition of the entire 22nd floor in the Nam Wo Hong office building in Sheung Wan.  But for now I'm in the office on the 11th floor.  My coworkers are quite nice.  In my office there are seven people including myself.  Two are British, three are Asian, one is Finnish, and then you have the American (me).  Today's tasks were nothing crazy.  I got acclimated to the computer system and most of my work will be performed on a Mac.  My primary duties will be getting their large photo library in check, which includes sorting, tagging, organizing, and uploading over 15,000 pictures.  It's a large task for the summer intern, but I should be able to get it all in check.  Getting the opportunity to go through the race pictures is absolutely great. Some of the views that the runners see in each race are just to die for.  Mary and I went out to lunch at a Vietnamese place.  Entrees were pretty cheap here, but I think only half of my rear end fit on the chair they provided.  I think Matthew would have been a little big for it too.  But I ordered a chicken and rice dish seasoned with lemongrass.  It was quite tasty.  I will say I have had to start to rely on Coke again.  Jet lag really has begun to hit me, and it was only 2 o'clock on Tuesday.  But back in the office, nothing really to note.  I'm horrible with names, but we have two Sams and then the others I just can't remember the others, my goal for this week is names.  Mary and I left the office around 7 and made it home for dinner with Alasdair and Alex.  Dinner was prepared by their housekeeper Dede, who prepared a nice rice and chicken dish.  I had a glass of wine with dinner and wow was that a mistake. It truly wanted to make me retire right then and there for the evening.  I wish I could write more but it's time for bed.
Things learned today:
1USD= 8 HKD