Adventurasia Community

I’ve been taking it easy and hanging out with my uncles since arriving in Hong Kong. For the last couple of days they’ve been showing me their digs, where they work, and taking me out to a variety of restaurants off the beaten track. Right now I’m staying with my aunt and uncle in Happy Valley. I’ve noticed this year around the Times Square shopping area now has a lot of elderly and disabled beggars and dumpster divers. Reminds me of Taipei last year where those people with no legs crawled down the street looking for change from passersby. It was especially kinda sad on Sunday when there were thousands of shoppers packed into the streets walking over these panhandlers near SOGO.

I’ll be checking out Macau in a couple of days but the main trip will be to Beijing and Dalian as soon as I can get a hold of C (you out there, girl???). B, I’ll give you a call soon to let you know the itinerary. K, the trip to Tokyo is still a big MAYBE. I’ll let you know in about a week how my schedule pans out.

Meanwhile, here’s an interesting story for y’all which doesn’t quite rank as high as last years’ “Travels with Bill” but was nevertheless still humourous. It started back in Vancouver at the Eva Airlines baggage counter. After handing over my ticket and passport to the young Asian lady behind the counter she said something quite astounding to me. She had a heavy Chinese accent and was very soft spoken so I had to ask her to repeat herself several times. And each time I swear it sounded like “Would you take off your pants?” I must say I had this huge grin on my face and if there was ever a time that I was both confused and elated simultaneously……..it was at that moment! After a bit of a pause she again repeated, “Sir! Would you take off your pants?” Still stunned I replied, “Ummm….here? You mean, right now???” No. At home., she replied. Mine or yours?, I shot back. I did a double take when she said Yours! I quickly thought, Am I still in Vancouver or have I arrived in Amsterdam?

Anyhoo…..to shorten this story it turns out she was actually asking “Did you pack all your bags?” She was checking if I knew all the contents inside because if someone else packed them they might want to inspect the luggage.

Let’s examine this. Kinda sounds the same under an accent, eh?
Would you take off your pants?
Did you pack all your bags?