Beautiful Day

When I was growing up in Manila in the 80's, I would hear people on TV say, "It's a beautiful day out today."

I never really knew what that meant. All days were the same. You got up and went to school. Recess, lunch then you went home. In the summer you didn't go to school but the days looked the same. Morning, afternoon, night.

Fast forward 20 years later and I found myself living in a small apartment room in NY. And then I got it. The whole "beautiful day" concept. Some days the sun shone brighter, the air was crisper, the colors of the leaves fuller. Like God fooled around with the tracking knob of the VCR and made the screen clearer. Or you finally wiped your glasses of a week's worth of grime.

I am happy to report that there are beautiful days in Hong Kong. And my God are they gorgeous. The perennial HK haze lifts, and you see the city in this new light. Literally new -- like from a younger more energetic sun.

The sky looks like it's been squeegeed. And the skyline doesn't only look like a postcard (it always does) it looks like it's been digitally enhanced. The edges of the building are sharper.

It's a beautiful day out today.