Miguel's Bachelor Party - Day 1 - Hong Kong

It's Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 10:35pm and we are sitting in the Los Angeles airport waiting for the beginning of our trip to commence. This trip, a year in planning, is to celebrate the singlehood that remains for Miguel. Hence, the need to go around the world to Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand to party the proper way. As big of a milestone as this was for him, this was the first trip out of the country for Bobby, Tijuana doesn't count for Californians. None of us knew how he was going to react to the experience, but we were all very excited to see.

The trip kicked off with a ride in the Santa Barbara airbus discussing Charlie Sheen's strategic positioning in the news that ended with him saying, "I'm winning." Needless to say, the rest of the trip was all about winning.

Once we arrived at the airport, we made it through security without a problem. Our tickets were correctly purchased. We all had our passports. There was nothing in our way to get on that plane and officially start this party. The first major hurdle was over.

Since we were taking a night flight, we had a small pharmacy with us that could kill a horse. Miguel and I were prepared to take our meds about one hour or two into the flight. Little did we know, Bobby already took his and was ready to be knocked out and dragged on to the flight, like B.A. from the A-Team. However, we all managed to stay up for the meal that they were serving.

The flight attendant said, "Bibimbap?" This is a Korean rice/vegetable/meat dish that is best served in a hot stone bowl. Well, we were not getting that. We got a hot plastic bowl. Bobby leaned over to me and said, "Pimp my bot? What is this?" The introduction of Korean food on a flight didn't leave the best impression on them unfortunately. They steered clear of bibimbap and the seaweed soup as much as possible.

We took our tranquilizers and sleeping pills to set us straight for the next 12 hours of flight time. I made it one hour, before I woke up. Well, if I was going to stay up, I might as well begin watching 1 of 12 movies I managed to squeeze in on all my flights for the trip. I went straight for the King's Speech and True Grit. Great flicks.

After a dizzying amount of movie watching, we were arriving in Seoul, South Korea for our connection to Hong Kong. Right off the bat, I was thoroughly impressed with the upkeep and architecture of the Seoul airport. I instantly became much more curious about what was outside of the airport and in the city, since an airport can be a window into a culture of a country and the city it represents.

Seoul will be put on the back shelf, because it was time to board and head to our real destination, Hong Kong. As we began our flight with Korean Air, Bobby leans over to me and says, "Are we going to have to eat that Pimp my Bot again?"

Lace up your shoes, because our trip is finally about to start. Hong Kong, here we come.

Full Album for Hong Kong