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Tuesday, August 19th
Hong Kong -> Shanghai 
"Adventures at the Hong Kong Airport..." Corrina and the kids sent me off at the Airport Express Station in Central and then went off to have breakfast at McDonalds without me (ahem...). I, on the otherhand, had some time to kill since my flight to Shanghai was apparently delayed by a good half hour. So I mosie on up to the check-in counter, proud of myself that I am not only at the airport on time but EARLY, and hand over my TAI BAO ZEN, thinking that all was well, when the lady behind the counter looks my way and gasps, "Miss... where is your visa?!" I was like, huh. What visa? Doesn't this TAO BAO ZEN serve as one, and if not, what the hell am I supposed to do NOW? Not to mention the fact that my ticket was non-refundable! Welp... this is what happened: I was PERSONALLY escorted from the check-in counter all the way to the special Taiwanese visa offices within the Hong Kong Airport and got my visa stamped and approved in less than SIXTY SECONDS. I kid you not. I was a serious VIP that day, and I still can't believe I got away with it.
Why, why, why, do I have such a psychological resistance to everything related to flying? Yet another rhetorical question... Anyway... the flight to Shanghai was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a rather ODD meal I had on China Eastern. The choice was ZHONG CHAN versus XI CHAN (Chinese versus Western food), so naturally, I picked the latter. What I didn't expect, however, was to be eating this:
In case the photo is not clear, we're talking about nuked scrambled eggs, a hot dog (not sausage mind you, a real weiner...), hash browns, and, and... BEANS. Is this what Chinese people think Westerners eat? I just busted out laughing, lol! Though when I saw what the passenger next to me got for his Chinese dish -- MI FEN -- I had a newfound appreciation for my wannabe Oscar Myer weiner. Getting from the Shanghai Airport to Jim's place was relatively easy, and I will admit that I've got my routine down to a science whenever I land at the airport of a new country in which I methodically find a seat at the arrival lounge, change my currencies and cell phone SIM cards, check my bags one final time, and then visit the Little Girl's Room. I'm sure everyone wanted to know that. It was good to see Jim again, and it was funny as hell when he was "showing me the money" that they made from last month's Happy Hour in Shanghai, our very first money-making endeavor, ever.
Granted, we didn't make THAT much, but still... it was indeed a milestone for us, and it covered most of our expenses there, including Jim's trip up to Beijing with me this upcoming weekend. I certainly enjoyed the moment, as did Jim, lol. Almost immediately, the two of us got into work mode and were to pretty much remain as such for the rest of the day, if my memory serves me correctly. As I mentioned in a previous journal entry, the Shanghai team has graciously agreed to service the design and printing needs for ALL of the Happy Hour teams worldwide, most of whom will start to charge door fees and pay the Shanghai team for promotional materials with revenues earned, as needed.
We are finally becoming a "real" business, and this is where my work experi- LOL... So one of the first things that Jim and I needed to do was to go over our new business card designs, which we did. Soon, we'll need to go over our overall CIS requirements, etc.
Jim is one very creative and talented person. It's amazing all the stuff he does for ORIENTED and for his own company, Digit One.
Like the rest of the world it seems, even we are starting to move certain pro-
I can't remember too much more about that evening, except thinking that it is freakin' HUMID in Shanghai and that I did not like it.
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