I had not been looking forward to my trip back to the US.  There were still too many things to take care of before I left, and many of them were going to have to remain undone, or at least to be completed at a slower pace due to email back and forth.  But, once on the plane, I was able to forget it all for a time and relax.  I can recommend Air Canada to anyone wanting to travel to Hong Kong from Seattle or Vancouver.  The economy class was quite comfortable and, between two movies and dozing in and out while listening to podcasts, I barely noticed the 12 hours go by.  Even when I arrived in North America, I felt good.  Instant adjustment.

Seattle gave me a shock when I went to pick up my rental car.  The website estimated it at around $200, which wasn’t cheap, but was tolerable.  However, at the counter, the final estimated expense came to $435, and that was with no fancy features, no extra insurance, nothing.  Oh, nothing besides an absurd amount of TAXES.  When I saw that price tag, I pleasantly told them to keep their car and I hopped on the city bus.  My accouterments were curious:  Hauling a very used climbing backpack, a guitar, and a suitcase; wearing a nice tailored shirt and sports jacket, blue jeans, and hiking boots.

Between the transfer and the near 20 minute waits for both busses, it took me two hours to get to downtown Redmond.  Rain was threatening and I barely made it to some Taco restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner just as it started to open up.  From there Kevin picked me up and it was smooth sailing.

I picked up a car two days later at one fourth the cost.  What car rental business you ask?  It doesn’t matter; what matters is avoiding the idiotic taxes at the airport.  Even the car that I had was taxed twice at 9.7 percent.  Once for sales tax and once for “car rental tax”.  So, it’s not like I was “sticking it to the man”.

The car was super useful though; getting around by bus or even bike is just not practical here, or anywhere in the US, if you have a haphazard schedule like mine.  As I was motoring around on the Eastside, I became aware once again at the numerous crazy traffic rules, with all sorts of weird special rules and such in different locations.  Going into the Microsoft campus, I noticed bright yellow markers and pylons all over the place to indicate, “Hey! Someone might walk here, so you better be super alert!  Oh yeah, and it’s the state law, so there!”  I’m almost to the point that the Washington should ban all car rentals to outsiders due the complexity and confusion of the laws.

Enough of that.  Sounds like I’m really complaining.  It was good to be back.  The weather was perfect.  The air was weightless, so much so that it felt like walking in a vaccum.  No doubt it’s a great part of the world.  Maybe I’ll retire here some day.

There’s not much else to tell.  This week in Seattle was all about running errands, hunting down info, hunting down items, and other sundry tasks.  I got over half of them done.  Some had to wait because paperwork wasn’t available yet, others because paperwork (or items) had vanished.  But, I did get two afternoons with my fellow condo owners weeding and planting, saving us another small fortune quoted by some local gardeners.

I had heard of “the beach” in Shenzhen for the longest time.  Actually, there are several different ones on the east side of the city.  They are popular spots apparently; seems like I hear them mentioned frequently.  Well, suddenly I know two people who have bought apartments in the area.  Finally, I accepted an invitation to come check it out.  After all, I too will be looking for a new apartment when I return from my upcoming summer trip to the US.

I really liked the place though I wasn’t there very long.  This past weekend was one of my busiest yet; I traveled to different parts of the city (by bus) for various project appointments, so I could only spare an afternoon.  I asked my friend, Mike, to have some bikes ready so we could take an accelerated tour of the area.

By bus, it’s quite far from downtown Shenzhen, perhaps 45 minutes or so, but the prices of apartments are much cheaper and there is obviously a lot of investment going into the place now.  So, I found myself starting to seriously consider it.  If I can have all the basic amenities nearby then I’ll be set.  It’s big enough to support a large population and there is a decent amount of Western influence, which is always calming if one needs it.

After the bike ride, we went to another friends apartment in the area and enjoyed an excellent dinner, Hunan style, along singing in his own karaoke bar.