going to america

This is the first in a series of posts detailing my trip to the USA.
I left HK on August 5th and was fortunate to have Joanna's company on the long flight to California. We had plenty of time (i.e. 12 hours) to peruse the in-flight magazine, Hemispheres, as well as the SkyMall catalogue. Here are some choice advertisements that we came across. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I did take all the pictures while on the plane, and since I was flying with a friend, I didn't experience any of the photo-taking self-consciousness that I would have experienced had I been flying alone...


No, this is not an ad for an escort service -- United does have some standards! It's for a completely legitimate dating service -- Model Quality Introductions -- "where upscale single men meet the most beautiful, fit, and intelligent women in the country."
And here's a slightly closer view. Some of my favorite lines: "You wouldn't compromise in business. We won't let you compromise in love. We understand men's needs."

If that doesn't make you want to vomit, maybe this will. It's an ad for "Bodies: The Exhibition." I hadn't heard of it before, but I came to find out that "Bodies" has been well-publicized in the States and not surprisingly, has met with some controversy. One point being that the majority of the "respectfully presented" bodies are Chinese. That's something I should probably check on, but if true, makes me wonder where they are getting their bodies from...

And I found some great items in the Skymall magazine.

This struck me as strange, but maybe that's because I'm used to animals that can jump effortlessly onto and off of couches.
And another similar product.

This was interesting. But then again, who wouldn't want a "Basho, the Sumo Wrestler" sculpture in their home or garden?

I wish we'd found this before our Fiesta! party, Athania. This little plastic thing "turns any party into a Mexican fiesta."

No matter how useful this device is, I can't imagine purchasing anything called a "bra baby."

I was pleased to find a whole double-page spread of "Successories."


The first two sentences say it all: "Now this is a real robot. So real that it's unreal!"