Boo!

It is the afternoon after Halloween (in Asia) and I think we have recovered from the freak show that is Halloween in Hong Kong. I had no idea.

Unfortunately this post is going to put the other posts in the queue out of order. I am allowing it to jump in the queue to post it in a timely manner, whereas the other posts which were started earlier have not been completed. Ah, the challenges of asynchrony.

Don't get me wrong; it is different from New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, where I have previously had debauched experiences. After all, Halloween is predominantly an American holiday (I am including South and Central America here), although its origins are in Druidic traditions in what is now Ireland and Britain. I think Ireland still celebrates Halloween; other places in Europe have different celebrations around the same time: I find the Spanish approach to the holiday more frightening, their El Dia De Los Muertos has a real morbid ritual feel. And England now celebrates this, kind of, as Guy Fawkes Day, named after the English terrorist recently rekindled in the consciousness of Americans in the movie, "V for Vendetta."

But in Hong Kong, this is a time that American expats go crazy along with their buddies looking for an excuse to go out. Because the average expat has access to more entertainment expense account than an average American, along with the fact that Hong Kong has an active movie industry, means there is quite an impressive Halloween celebration in the city.

Knowing most of the ex-heads of major investment banks in Hong Kong helps secure invites to the most interesting parties. (It's hard to know a current head of a major bank because they seem to change so quickly. And they are usually busier and drink less.) Jenny and I had a pretty good time. Because we did not have very much time in Hong Kong to prepare, we ended up with less sophisticated costumes (meaning there were no special effects or latex molds needed). We both went as North Korean missiles. It was a good conversation starter for that crowd.

Because the expats do party too hard and too wild, we left a little early. We wandered into a room salon where all the women were also dressed up. And, boy, some of the outfits were very, um, nice. We hung out and did some singing, and then went back to the hotel by 2 AM. Yeah, we are wimps, but had we dragged ourselves in at 5 AM, we would not have been able to launch those missiles...