Contours of the Earth

This is everything. (See the list below)

Before

After

All fit into one bag

This is the list for 6 months in China with just one pack. Keep in mind: I left in the middle of winter and stayed through until August, I was doing internships in offices, as well as consulting, and I was climbing pretty much every week. I also went snowboarding a few times and only rented the board & boots.

1 large camping backpack

1 daypack (camelback sans water pouch)(in the bigger bag for travel)

1 Laptop (my lenovo W500 which is a beast, definitely not good for travel)
-laptop charger cable

Electronics
-iphone, usb, plug adaptor
-2 memory sticks filled with miniapps, firefox lite, encrypted passwords (used seldomly, I was being extra-careful)
-earbuds
-small camera with memory cards

1 pair DVS skate shoes for every day

1 pair rock climbing shoes
-plus chalk bag & carabiner

1 blackish-brownish leather belt

1 Wallet (dollars, yuan, credit cards, health cards, etc.)

1 passport & passport photos

Chinese study material

Toiletries
-electric shaver
-nail clippers
-toothbrush, floss, toothpaste
-deodorant

1 bandana
2 pairs of pants (one olive, one brown)
1 pair of shorts
1 pair of trunks (for swimming)
7 t-shirts
1 wool sweater
1 long sleeve waffle shirt
2 dress shirts
1 medium weight coat for all occasions
1 warm hat
6-8 socks
6-8 boxers
1 pair of cheap knit gloves

**The only clothes I bought on the trip were a custom-made suit, flip flops, and some dirt-cheap shoes for the office which I didn’t bring back home (they were really uncomfortable).

The design at Hampton Inn, which I assume was meant to be reassuring comes off as borderline rude. As soon as you walk in you’re hit with constant greetings such as “hello.“, “relax.” and “thanks.”

It’s not the words, but the way they’re presented. Is this a typography, branding, or just overall design issue? I’d be interested to hear comments / reactions.

My favorite one: “clean your face.” – anyone else think this sounds aggressive, rather than inviting?

The Horse Races

This is Hong Kong's "Times Square." There's not much to do here besides shop, but we passed through on our way to the races, so I figured I might as well take a picture

My first time to a horse race. It was packed!

This one came out blurry, but I managed to get the horses in the frame

Hong Kong’s Subway -MTR

Next train to Hong Kong is in 2 minutes

Big Buddha

Glass-bottom gondola on the way to big buddha

The ride was about half an hour each way

It was a really stormy day

The bump on the hill in the center is big buddha

A cow we met along the way

The buddha, just before my camera ran out of batteries

I just took the train down from Beijing to Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was a 24-hour train ride, and I was on the top bunk in a room of 6 bunks. It was a little cramped but I slept well and the trip went by pretty quick. Arriving in Hong Kong, it’s a big contrast from Beijing, with small streets and densely-packed skyscrapers, as opposed to the wide streets and vast expanse of China’s capital. Here are the highlights from my first day here:

Nan Lian Garden

The entrance to the garden

This translation is right on

The garden was filled with crazy looking rocks

If you look closely, you can see a guy carving one of the trees. There were 'bonzai' trees all around. Very cool

The City Lights

The shopping district has no shorage of neon lights

The skyline of the main Hong Kong island

This used to be the tallest building in the world. It's massive from up-close.

This picture didn't turn out great, but it's from The Peak, which is the top of the mountain on Hong Kong island. You can see almost the entire city, and across the river is Kowloon where I came in by train.

I decided to visit the Google China HQ in Beijing after they finally left, and the google.com started redirecting to google.com.hk. I’d seen pictures of flowers and notes on the sign like a tombstone, so I wanted to check it out. None of that was there, but it was still cool to visit. I don’ t think they will be abandoning the office in Beijing, and I have a feeling they won’t be gone too long.