FOR someone born and bred in Hongkong, a few weeks spent motoring around the sunny side of the United States could well be punctuated with sporadic attacks of agoraphobia.
California - with its vast open spaces, clean beaches and lush greenery- is just about as different from Hongkong as the North Pole is from the Sahara.
One of the best ways of getting the most out of a visit to the US West Coast is to run up or down it California style - in a convertible with the top down.
Once you get to California, having a good deal of fun doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.
Renting a convertible in the US costs less per week than it does to rent a Toyota hatchback in Hongkong for a weekend.
With petrol prices hovering around US$1.40 per gallon, the hundreds of kilometres of expressways, highways and freeways that need to be covered to get from, say San Diego to San Francisco, can be traversed for minimum cost . . . even if you're driving apetrol-guzzling Chrysler LeBaron.