To get to the foot massage, though, there was first the 16 hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong. In coach.

Wasn't so bad, though. The first couple of times I went to Asia I went coach, and I lived; after that, I started piling up the miles, and have been able to upgrade. Didn't work this time, though: upgrades not available, on account of it was a full, and I do mean full, flight. Oh well. Continental now has an entertainment system with eleventy-two movies, tv shows, music channels, all at your seat, even in coach. I watched "Death Note" and the first Ip Man movie, and if you're not into Asian pop culture, never mind, but I loved 'em. The food was edible, and I managed a few hours of sleep. So when I staggered off the plane in Hong Kong, I was okay. Zipped over to my friend Nancy's place in one of the impossibly slender buildings in Midlevels -- a round building, no less -- where by the time we schmoozed for awhile it was bedtime.

Got up and felt almost like a normal person. Made our way over the Peak to Repulse Bay to have coffee with another writer, walked on the beach and over to this wacky Buddhist- and Taoist-figure sculpture garden (photos coming); then back to Central for some fabulous dumplings (vegetable; and pork and chive) and then the foot massage. Nancy does this once a week, dumplings and foot massages. I can sort of see why, I must say.

Then we wandered around a little more, and decided we were feeling so good we'd walk back up to Nancy's apt. rather than taking a cab. It was more like hiking -- that's one steep city they have there -- but we strolled through an herb garden attached to the Zoo and checked out some medicinal plants, very cool. Then I packed up my suitcase, took a cab to the Airport Express stop, and headed out to Singapore.