cough, cough, sputter

i woke up this morning with the good intention of going out for a jog. one look out the window quickly changed my my mind, however, as i figure i'm healthier surfing the internet than sucking down this air:

compare this with a clear day a few weeks ago and you can easily see the difference:

the hong kong epd website shows that it isn't just an innocent low-flying cloud. there are a lot of nasties in that haze:

respirable suspended particulates- yum!

pollution is a very big issue here in hong kong, the source of the grime being the factories and power plants located in nearby southern china. over the past couple of months we've been lucky and had a lot of clear days, but it takes one like this to remind everyone how bad the problem can be.

here's hoping that the wind will shift and tomorrow it'll be clear. otherwise the most exercise i'm going to get this weekend is going to be extreme internet surfing and dvd watching.

here and there

because i've been traveling so much lately i've had little time for updates. below are some highlights from the past couple of months:


a hong kong airlines boeing 737 waits to depart from hong kong international airport.


up up and away!


an older thai airways boeing 747 in front of suvarnabhumi airport.


sunrise in thailand.


my temporary home for 12 and a half hours.


i never get tired of seeing sunsets and sunrises from the air.


a window seat affords some great views.


a view of downtown chicago shortly after taking off from o'hare.


the gotham-like jin mao tower next to the shanghai world financial center. at 92 stories of its planned 101 stories it's already one of the tallest buildings in the world. must be an amazing view from the chair of one of those crane operators


a panorama of shanghai taken from my hotel room on the 54th floor of tomorrow square. click for a larger version.


lightning above a nearby apartment complex here in hong kong.


nelson, my dad's bernese mountain dog in cornwall, england.