my son is heading off to hong kong and china... UPDATE

[carole]

I just had to share my exciting news, my son who works for a company in Auckland which sells projectors,whiteboards,etc etc, is the operations manager, a role he has just been given, i am very proud of him as he has worked his way up there, is heading off on his very first business trip for a week with his boss,he is very excited, i am too, but of course as a mother a bit scared about visiting these countries, i hope all goes well , he may well indeed suffer from some serious jet lag, but my main concern is his asthma, he is going to the capital, and i have heard the pollution is very serious over there,hopefully they have tried hard to clean it up a bit with the games being there in August.

On his return he only has two weeks to go and then he and his partner amber and my daughter melissa are off to the gold coast Australia, so that will be a much needed break for him after this trip for sure, apparently he is going to a work social event friday night, stocktaking saturday and off to hong kong on the sunday, phew better him than me, anyhow just wanted to share, thanks for listening.:)

[Karen]

I just had to share my exciting news, my son who works for a company in Auckland which sells projectors,whiteboards,etc etc, is the operations manager, a role he has just been given, i am very proud of him as he has worked his way up there, is heading off on his very first business trip for a week with his boss,he is very excited, i am too, but of course as a mother a bit scared about visiting these countries, i hope all goes well , he may well indeed suffer from some serious jet lag, but my main concern is his asthma, he is going to the capital, and i have heard the pollution is very serious over there,hopefully they have tried hard to clean it up a bit with the games being there in August.

On his return he only has two weeks to go and then he and his partner amber and my daughter melissa are off to the gold coast Australia, so that will be a much needed break for him after this trip for sure, apparently he is going to a work social event friday night, stocktaking saturday and off to hong kong on the sunday, phew better him than me, anyhow just wanted to share, thanks for listening.:)

As an asthmatic who visited Beijing 7 years ago, I know they were already working on cleaning up the air then. As long as he brings his inhalers, he'll likely be fine. Worse than the external pollution for me was the fact that so many people smoke, and there's no such thing as a "smoke-free" section or room, or at least there wasn't then.

He'll be fine, mom - and what a grand adventure!

[davidpizzica]

Hi, Sis! I'm sending some Pittsburgh prayers to you and your son that his upcoming trip to Hong Kong and China be very sucessful and fun and that he has no trouble with his asthma.

[Lilith Cherry]

Hi there Carole!

I have lived in China for several years now and can tell you that it is really quite civilised here so don't worry about your son; he will have a wonderful time! The air pollution is a lot less than before as the government have been cleaning up ready for the olympics. I presently live in Zhuhai, Guangdong but have travelled around and enjoyed the country a lot! tell him to take lots of photos for you!

[carole]

Thank you all, and Karen and lilith Cherry for your re-assurance, oh i know China is very civilised lol, but i worry about the things like bird flue, typhoid etc, i don't think he has time to have any vaccinations, which are not compulsory but are advised, i am a typical mother,worry, worry, worry about everything and anything lol.

I am glad the pollution is not as bad as i thought and yes i did think they would be cleaning the city up for the olympics,so that is all good, as for the smoking, i hate to tell you this but my son is a smoker, i so wish he wasn't , so bad for his asthma, he came from a non-smoking home, but got addicted to it,he started with his peers at about 16 and we are hoping he will try and give it up once and for all, he talks about it, but so far no result,no-one apart from him in my family smokes.

Yes i am sure it will be a very tiring, but exciting trip for him,he probably will be flying out this sunday, if all goes according to plan, hopefully his visa will be through and away he goes.:)

[carole]

Well after telling you all the news, my son sends me a text saying the trip has been delayed, i think the boss just decided not to go right now, he told scott he woke up at 4am and made the decision,he say's they will go in a few weeks, but i am wondering if it will eventuate, boss sounds a bit indecisive to me.

However i have to say it is a blessing in disguise, my son came down rather sick on wednesday,he is at home off work with a nasty flue type virus that is going around at the moment, as he said there is no way he would want to be traveling anywhere feeling like he does, i would have been really worried if he had gone ,so i guess it is not mean't to be for now.,hopefully they will head off to china after his holiday to aussie, which would be much better all round really.

[Karen]

Oh, we hope he feels better soon, and does get to go to China and Hong Kong sometime soon!

[prechrswife]

Unless he is going to be in very rural areas, you have no need to worry about things like bird flu and typhoid. China is an amazing place to visit. I hope we have the opportunity to visit again one day.

[carole]

Thank you for that, i am much more happier knowing that, as i doubt he will be anywhere near rural areas, yes he was so excited, but he is glad it was called off, as he is feeling very unwell, certainly not up to traveling, both he and his partner Amber are sick and off work right now,apparently the boss has it as well, so it would have been disastrous had they gone.

Yes i hope he still gets to go, it is in the pipeline, so here's hoping.

[prechrswife]

If he does get to go, as far as vaccines, we got our Hep. A & B vaccines, tetanus (hubby and I both needed to update ours), and we planned to get a flu shot when we thought we were going during flu season. As it turns out, we didn't go during flu season after all.

[carole]

Thank you, i was worried about that, as even though not compulsory they are recommended and he did not have time to get them, as the trip was like announced, and he only had a week to get organised, i guess summer is not flue season, so hopefully he will be ok with that. cheers.

[Oggyflute]

That's great news Carole. Just tell him to stay out of the Playboy Club, but have a beer in the Ned Kelly bar, it's in Kowloon I think. ;)

[carole]

Hey there oggyflute, i have not noticed you on PT for ages, good to see you, trip has been delayed, but i will tell him about the ned kelly bar, not the playboy club, i don't think His partner Amber would be too thrilled if he went there do you? lol, cheers matey.:D:)

[carole]

Well he is leaving for Hong Kong on Monday midnight, and it is definite this time, seats and hotels all booked, he will be away until sunday, and the boss has promised him a fun time , so i guess he is going to have a bit of business and some time to shop and be entertained,and see the sights a bit hopefully, he is staying in Kowloon at the BP international hotel oggyflute, so i will tell him about the ned kelly bar and not the playboy club he he.:):D

[carole]

For those who are interested just thought i would post a little update, i got a suprise phone call from China yesterday afternoon, it was great hearing my son's voice and it was so clear as if he were ringing from down the road.

He had arrived Tuesday, so it was thursday before i heard from him, so as a mother was a little anxious, but was happy to hear everything going so well, he slept 7 hours on the flight over to Hong Kong, so he and the boss felt good enough to go straight to work, all the hotels and food have been good,he has been very busy, well it is a business trip after all, but loving it.

He was off to do some sight seeing, going to the markets, and then to Tinneman square (sorry not sure on spelling) and to see the olympic games stadium, then flying back to Hong Kong, he will have a day of business there and Friday night off and all day saturday to sight see until he flies out at 6.30, so he will be home sunday morning, cannot wait to catch up and hear about it all, his comment that stuck in my mind was "Mum it is a different world over here".

He is not normally big on taking pictures, but said he had already taken around sixty pictures, cannot wait to see them all, said it was hot and sticky over there, remember he has come from our winter, so will be a bit of a change coming back home , then he will be off to warmer temps again in Australia.

So anyhow just wanted to let you all know, a much relieved mother here and happy to hear from her lad.:D

[caseysmom]

That is exciting he is lucky to get that opportunity.

[Giselle]

Sounds very fun! China/HK is a fascinating, wonderful place. My last trip was in '06 and I'm trying to save up enough money to go next year...Kowloon is very visitor-friendly, so you need not worry about him.

Wow, if he's going to Tiananmen Square, that means he's flying up to Beijing. He's traveling all over, isn't he? :p

[carole]

Yes he was staying in Beijing , they had business for two days there, I know it is a wonderful opportunity for him, i am glad he has been given it, he works hard and is very ambitious,he really deserves to have been given this opportunity,so exciting,i can't wait till i can chat with him all about it.:)

Yes Giselle he is the most traveled out of all our young ones in the family now, he has been to Britain, Scotland, Rarotonga, now Hong Kong and China and then Aussie. in a weeks time, and had stopovers in Germany and Los Angeles, I figure it will just give him more of the travel bug for sure lol.

[Oggyflute]

I can certainly understand his comment about being a different world. Of all the cities I've been in, it does seem to have a life of it's own. It's a great place, exciting & fun, I'm glad he's having a good time.

[Lilith Cherry]

Hope he had a good time Carole. Ned Kellys is a great place - great food and fantastic jazz to listen to. oggyflute has good taste lol!

[carole]

Well number one son is back home safely, He had an absolute Ball over there, he rang me late afternoon yesterday, everything went so well, he was fine,the business went well,just everything was so positive it was great to hear.

He even enjoyed shopping, my son is a normal male who hates shopping, he went to the market in Beijing which he said was a building five stories high and said it was great, he purchased some great knock offs, a watch, jacket (armani )and shirts,oakley glasses, which i believe apart from the watch the boss paid for. ,he checked the watch out here and the real deal is $3,000 dollars, the guy said he there are good fakes and bad ones and his was a goody so he was pleased about that.

I think he preferred Hong Kong as a city, but in Beijing they were driven around everywhere and had a better hotel etc, and were taken out for meals etc, so it was a better deal from that aspect.

He mentioned going on the longest escalator in the world, up a mountain, which people go to and from work, it is outdoors, it sounded amazing, he has taken over 200 photos, so i cannot wait to see them, i will have to wait two weeks, we will be going up to pick our daughter up when they fly in from Aussie, so can spend the day with him, will be great.

I don't think he got to the ned kelly bar unfortunately.

One thing he mentioned, which suprised me, in Hong Kong, he said you can walk around at midnight, woman alone and feel safer than you do in Auckland city,shock horror.

So yes folks one very happy lad, great experience and opportunity, and i asked any chance you will get to go again, he said probably, the boss said next time we will try and make it so you can go to the Hong Kong Sevens, my son is sport mad, this would indeed be the icing on the cake, so who know's.it was a pity it was so close to his aussie holiday though, as he has saved his money for that trip, so really did not have a lot to spend, next time he will be able to save heaps and get some real bargains.