Wait...this isn't LAX...and why is everything in Chinese?

You know, having a flight canceled or delayed domestically isn't really a big deal; there are a dozen flights going to LAX from DFW or JFK per day on any airline and the most you're usually out is a few hours which can be killed at an airport bar or Chili's To Go. However, having airline problems Internationally is a whole different story all together. (I hope the Airplane fans just caught that veiled reference to a classic line from the movie...)

Greetings...from Hong Kong!! Yup. It's like 2AM here in Hong Kong and I'm cruising wirelessly from my room at the Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong waiting for a 1:15PM flight to LAX. Our plane in Singapore had some mechanical problem and they had everyone get off and then transfer to another plane but they had to re-issue boarding passes and all that jazz so we ended up leaving SIN about 3.5 hours behind schedule; it was a mob scene at the ticket counter and thankfully I got my new boarding pass before a full on riot was about to break out. Coincidentally, my layover here in HKG was supposed to be (you guessed it) 3.5 hours so here I am, in my boxers typing at 2AM; I've removed all other clothing as a courtesy to my fellow passengers who would prefer that I try my best to keep all clothing as clean as possible on 2+ days of use. Thankfully I have stuff for my contacts but no change of clothes nor items to tend to my numerous wounds (more on that later).

So, my wounds... Well, I couldn't leave Indo without some souveniers, right? Since I'm not much into kitchy trinkets or t-shirts and such I decided getting a few going away cuts and bruises from the reef would be much more appropriate. Last session of the trip and I was at Beng Beng and it was the biggest we surfed it; 5-6' faces and super consistent. The great news from the session is I got my first legit barrel. I hesitated on the takeoff and then just decided to go and was super late and grabbed rail and just pig-dogged it down the face. Well, much to my benefit, said late take-off and stance resulted in being in the perfect position as the wave threw over me. Now I've been kinda-barreled a bunch or pulled into close-out barrels a bunch but this was legit. It was probably only about 5-7 meters or so and then it slowed down a bit and just walled up the rest of the way but it was freakin sweet; a wonderful memory and great way to end the trip. OK, back to the wounds... So, I told myself I was going in and was gonna grab 1 last wave. It came and it was a really lame ride; short and not at all sweet. I then said "1 last wave" as a little one came in and it was a really fun wave and one I was stoked to call my last of the trip. The problem is that I completely forgot that after catching the first one I was already inside and so as I jumped over the back of the wave it hit me, both literally and figuratively. There I was standing on the reef in about 2' of water which is not enough to float me, especially when that's with the water on the reef; as the water would rush out I was standing in 0' of water and the first 5 waves or so were too much for me to hold my balance so I got knocked backwards several times and pushed even deeper onto the reef, all the while being knocked by coral heads on my back (thank you Quik jacket) and my futile attempt at grabbing onto one of the least sharp coral heads to slow me down just left my hands all cut up. Long story short, I hopscotched over big coral heads and stepped carefully as best I could and battled the rush of water the best I could to get over to the keyhole (area where there's no reef and the water can rush out to sea) about 30 meters away but by that time my feet and hands were toast. I lucked out in that there were no big cuts but just dozens of little ones and most of them were bleeding; only wore 1 bootie so my right foot only got bruised and escaped the reef. The real kicker is that the biggest open cuts are right where my feet touch as I walk so I'm Hop-Along Pete right now and walking is neither pleasant nor expeditious. Try lugging a 65lb board bag, roller bag and messenger bag through Changi airport in Singapore for 100's of yards; I am sore as hell.

Well, I'll type some more stories and thoughts tomorrow as well as upload some of the last photos from the trip. Suffice it to say, this was the trip of a lifetime for a myriad of reasons; I'll share some of those reasons in detail later. So what if I have to eat dim sum and kung pao chicken here at HKG and walk another quarter of a mile from the hotel to the freakin terminal where apparantely the modern technology affectionately known as "people movers" has yet to be adopted here in Hong Kong... I assure you the following characters somehow mean "good night" in Chinese...

晚上好