Skillful Observer
Der andere Blick

I’m finally here and setteled. I even have the laptop up and running, which means i can blog propperly.

The stop in Dubai was … well it was long. We landed just before midnight and boarding for our connection flight started 8:40 in the morning. Of course we didn’t want to spend money on a room we would just sleep in for a couple of hours so we stayed at the airport like all the other people whose connection flight didn’t leave until the morning. We set ourselfs up near one of these LG power chargers that were scattered through the hall, i started uploading photos and Niki went on shopping in the duty free stores. After finishng our business we looked at the clock and it was like 1 in the morning. Nowhere NEAR boarding time. So we started watching the Bourne trilogy, which Niki hasn’t seen up to that point. She did watch all 3 movies through the night while i got like 90 minutes of sleep. Exhausted and bleary-eyed, we boarded our flight to Hong Kong.

The picture was taken shortly after sunrise facing east from the airport.

I don’t remember much of the flight. Just that i slept alot and watched bits if WALL-E when i was awake. I also was a bit dissapointed that not only the entertainment system on our 2nd flight featured only 4:3 screens and pretty blurry video, but also the movie i didn’t finish from Vienna to Dubai wasn’t in the media library. Now i have to get „The Box“ so i can see how it ends. THANKS Emirates Airlines!

The picture was taken shortly after sunset.

After arriving in Hong Kong somewhen during the night, we took the bus to the city. MAN that was a ride. Niki told me the busses drive more agressive and they shake much upstairs (most of the busses in HK are double deckers). But what i got was almost steeper than a rollercoaster ride. The bus circled around the airport buildings passing so many rotary traffics i almost puked. When it finally left the island where the airport is on it became much smoother, but heavy rain was still crackling against the windows making it difficult to see anything outside.

An hour later we made it to the city and were greeted by Niki’s relatives. We stay at the apartment of one of her uncles right in Wan Chai. Despite the heat (AC was off), i fell asleep pretty fast and slept well. We went out shopping today and one thing i learned already is: Look out for puddles on the sidewalk and DON’T STEP IN. You will know why when you do 🙂

I took the picture somewhere near the causeway bay subway station. Lotsa people.

Shopping was fun. The markets sell all kinds of strange stuff. And after the bird flu, the only live food they sell is fish. Makes for a pretty hefty smell, but no doubt tastes great. Also we shopped for our first field trip. We will be in Seoul, capital of South Korea, from 12th to 16th September. Oh yeah, and all the trams in HK have different ads on them. Starcraft II beeing one of them.

Took the picture somewhere in dowtown. Obviously a tram 🙂

Stay tuned for more.

Another thing that struck me as rather odd at the airport in Dubai were the toilets. Well not exactly the toilets, just the possoirs were a little interesting.

It had like 33°C (100°F ?) when we arrived there, but the chain of air conditioning was so perfect that we only felt like 22°C all the time. Now imagine standing in front of a urinal ready to do your thing when suddenly you are hit by a hot stream of air right in the face. Nobody seems to be interested in cooling the sewers of the complex! So from the drainage there are exhausting vast amounts of unconditioned air, hitting guys taking a leak right in the head.

Not the most pleasant way to relief youreself, i can tell you that!

We arrived save and sound in Dubai late yesterday evening. Our connection flight leaves just in about 2 1/2 hours. This resulted in a almost sleepless night full of trying to get the wireless connection up and running, drinking some Mountain Dew and watchng movies om the laptop.

The picture i attached might not catch the atmosphere, but at least it is something for now. If you want to see more you either have to wait or you can add me on facebooo where i already uploaded some pictures i have taken with the „real“ camera.

That’s about it for now. See you in Hong Kong.

Oh yeah and by the way: we are also making a pit stop in Bangkok. We won’t be leaving the plane, but maybe i can snap some pictures from the window.

As promised, here are some of the better pictures i took in the recent past.

I will leave Vienna tomorrow afternoon and should arrive in Hong Kong  late Friday. We have a 6 or 7 hour stop in Dubai, so maybe i can even post pictures from there.