Greetings from Chongqing!

Hello Family and Friends!

We miss you all and we're glad we can keep in touch through this blog. Please feel free to comment and respond and we'll try to keep it updated throughout the trip.

We had a 6 hour layover in Hong Kong but we were too chicken to leave the airport and venture into the city. Didn't want to risk getting lost or stuck in traffic on the way back to the airport and end up missing our flight to Chongqing. There was plenty of food and shopping at the HK airport to keep us occupied. Prices are sky high in HK and especially more so for captive travellers in limbo at the airport. Imagine paying 20 HK dollars for a soda! Which we did...but it wasn't your ordinary Coke or Sprite...it was a Chinese Lemon-Lime soda that had a marble (yes! a real glass marble) stuck into the neck of the bottle. It's really more of a novelty item...you're supposed to push down on the cap which in turn forces the marble down into the soda and makes it spew all over the place...BIG hit with the kids in our group...everyone had to have one including our boy!!

We arrived safely in Chongqing via Hong Kong on Friday July 6th @ 4:30 pm.
It's just like Dorothy said, "Toto...I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!!"
There is an explosion of development and growth going on in Chongqing. It's just amazing to see the giant cranes and high-rise towers everywhere.

We interrupt this blog for...A WORD FROM DJ! Hi folks, I'm here today in the Ti Yu hotel, located in Chongqing,China. Now, my Mama's letting me send this draft. Right now I'm thinking about what to say in this funky hotel. Oh, I did see a squatter, and actually it ain't bad for little boys and men.

By the way...here is the information for the hotel that we're staying at:

Ti Yu Hotel
Chongqing Dadukou Culture and Sports Branch - Road 52
Chongqing, China 400084
Phone: (86) 23-86199666

We are pleased to report that the hotel is actually better than what we expected. We are located in a city-setting with a major super-market-clothing retailer called "C-Best" about 2 blocks away.
So our first afternoon/evening in Chongqing was spent looking for bottled water, soda and snacks...all of the essentials for ABC's in a foreign land.

All of our meals are provided by the hotel and the food is very good although extremely spicy and "exotic" - - not your everyday chow mein, chow fun and wonton. With the exception of breakfast, every meal is served "banquet style" with an average of 12 to 13 entrees. Here's a picture of our first dinner:

So far...so good!
The hotel room is clean and nicely furnished...take a look for yourselves:

And the room comes equipped with a blow-dryer and a hot water pot!! Most excellent for germaphobes like us!

We'll log off for now...but there's more to come so stop by again.
Thanks for checking in...we miss everyone and everything back home!
Hope everyone is well!
D and d