Lunch, Bank, View, Gasp

     Yesterday Terry and I rendez-voused for lunch at a Thai restaurant close to his office.  After we'd finished our curry and lemongrass tea he tried to remember if we've ever done this before.  Neither of us recalled ever meeting up for lunch in the 31 years we've been married.  So I guess it was about time, and we really didn't need to go all the way to Hong Kong for this, did we?
     We actually did have another purpose for meeting up, and that was going to the bank to have my name added to the account that Terry had set up earlier this winter.  This was none too soon, since my first paycheck arrived in the mail today.  (It's a bit of a thrill getting paid in Hong Kong dollars:  multiply U.S. dollars by 7.75.  Lao kip would be a real thrill:  multiply by 8,000.)  Unfortunately we couldn't get this done yesterday because my passport wasn't sufficient documentation.  I needed some kind of proof of my residency, such as our apartment lease--original, not a copy.  Never mind that Terry didn't need such proof when he set up the account.  A business card sufficed then.  You don't argue with bank rules.  Hong Kong banks have a reputation for over-the-top bureaucracy.
     We also hunted down the supposed nearby location of the Toys'R'Us that carries Scrabble games.  Alas, there was no such store where it was supposed to be.

     One last novelty for me on this outing was getting to see Terry's office.  It's an open space with 8 desks and a small conference room, very basic.  Here's the view from his desk out the 25th floor window. There are ropes hanging down right outside the windows, part of a window-washing rig.  
     Today he said that there was occasional fog and probably pollution that obscured  the gray skinny building in the middle foreground.  We notice respiratory symptoms now and then from the poor air quality, such as sore throats and feeling out of breath when we shouldn't.
    I recently met the manager of our apartment building for the first time, a Chinese-American young woman from New York City who moved here after spending 4 years in Los Angeles.  I asked her how she liked living in Hong Kong.  She wasn't overwhelmingly positive and mentioned specifically that she didn't like living in a place with such bad air pollution.  I asked if this air is worse than in L.A.  Much worse, she said.
     Given the air pollution problem and the all-urban driving here, something that surprises me is not seeing more hybrid vehicles.  I have seen exactly one, a Prius.  People who are wealthy enough to drive and park a vehicle here seem to like to drive a BMW, Mercedes, Lexus or other luxury car.  Brand and image seem more important than improving air quality.