Switchin' it up like whoa

I've noticed that this trip is quite different than others. First and the most obvious, I'm not traveling by myself. Second, I'm not staying in Asia for more than 6 months (dawwww major sad face). Third, I've listened to no music on this trip. And last, I've got my iPhone. Part 'wah wah' and part 'oh sweet'.

Before I go on I'd like to note that hong kong is unlike any city/state I've ever been. In a good way! Elements of it remind me of new york city (diversity, food), Tokyo (mrt, organization, near cleanliness), Mumbai (the crowded alleys and living) and none of it reminds of mainland china. I'm continuously amazed that my nostalgia for the Philippines has been cured by hearing tagalog or some Philippine dialect around me. Most people speak English (lazy American dang). They even have their own version of teh tarik! Gahhhh... I had some with a toasted buttered brioche w sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. Oh brother what a world!

I have to say having my iPhone is kind of a buzz kill. I should have self control but there is just free public wifi everywhere! Trying to figure out where I am via gps vs squinting at street signs and trying to match characters and foreign words on a map... Oh I kind of miss the simpler times. I feel like I'm cheating. My old travel sketch books used to have travel notes, directions, hastily scrawled maps in between the sketches. This one's pretty clean and orderly. Having the phone definitely has its perks like not paying to use an old computer in a coffee shop or hostel lobby. But there is charm to complaining about slow internet or getting that last email out before times run out. I mean, i left america to be in a place completely different so does it count if i bring the luxuries with me? I pride myself in sleeping in cheap hostels with a backpack's worth of clothes, showering with a bucket of cold water but having this fancy phone, i feel, undoes all that. I cant hate it entirely though because i am blogging from my phone (but sadly can't post pictures lamecore fest 2011). I can chat with my friends, check on my etsy and business emails. So I wonder if that's a compromise I have to make to maintain a functioning business as I travel. Shrug. Perhaps!

Ok this is getting long (that's what she said!). Skeedaddle yankee doodle.