here i am in hong kong, once again using the free internet access at the convention center. i mean, centre. i hate to admit it, but as i was riding the bus from the airport to tsim sha tsui (at hkd33, a much better deal than the hkd90 airport express train. you can ride on the upper deck of the bus, right up front (shotgun?) so you can see everything), i thought, hong kong is so much better than taipei. the highways are all new and modern, and the streets and sidewalks are nice and wide, and the air and everything just seems so much cleaner. and today i'm walking around and reading all the ads in cantonese, and i felt so happy.

of course, it's not without its downsides. seems like everyone smokes here, and it's also relatively expensive, and people drive on the wrong side of the road. and i'm sure it's not comfortable living under the claws of mainland china.