It’s now Tuesday evening, 11pm in Hong Kong (Tuesday morning, 10am in Virginia). We had a long day today. Cindy and I woke early, about 4:30am, and then drifted in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours. Finally, we got up and made some hot tea and talked for a while…had breakfast and began to plan our day.
At 10am, I had my second interview this morning for performances in Hong Kong with the South China Morning Post. They are doing a preview article scheduled to run on 21 December. The interview went very well and I hope the article will read well.
Almost 2/3 of the way through the interview, a very loud “drilling” noise started rumbling through our hotel room. It became so loud that the reporter noticed the noise. It seems that the hotel is under “renovation” on several floors (not ours) but it can be felt and heard throughout the hotel. This was going to cause a significant problem because, in a few minutes, I had a live radio interview with Radio Television Hong Kong’s “Morning Brew.”
I spoke with the front desk and they arranged for me to do the interview in the Hotel lounge area and routed the call my direction. The interview started off well – the host was lively and excited. Half way through the interview, we were disconnected and never finished it. I’m sure there were many comments about the magician simply “disappearing” from the airwaves. It was out of my control…so it was time for lunch!
The noise continued throughout the day until construction halted around 6pm. We explored the area around the hotel and became more familiar with our new neighborhood. A quick shopping trip, dinner and back to the hotel. It’s David and Kylie’s wedding anniversary today – Happy Anniversary!
Keith and I must get up early in the morning to catch a 7am shuttle back to the airport. We’re flying to Taipei where I have a couple of press conferences scheduled to promote the performances there on December 30 and 31. Cindy and the gang will stay in Hong Kong, get some continued rest and do some more shopping, I’m sure.
On another note, the great cell service promised to me by Cingular while in Hong Kong still hasn’t kicked in. I activated my World Traveler services more than a month ago with the assurance the the phone would work once I arrived. It’s been two days now and my phone is still “searching for a network.” I stopped at a local Vodafone (Cingular affiliate here) and was told that they needed to do something with my phone back in Virginia. I tried to email my local store using the email address from their website, but it came back as “undeliverable.” Now – that’s customer service!
Off to bed!